


Before it Breaks

by Aeolist



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-04
Updated: 2014-10-04
Packaged: 2018-01-18 02:38:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 68,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1411891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeolist/pseuds/Aeolist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The walls between the universes close before the TARDIS reaches Bad Wolf Bay and the two Doctors and Rose have to learn how to relate to each other now that everything's changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to fadewithfury and rointheta for betaing this!

“Just time for one last trip.” 

Rose’s head shot up at the sound of the Doctor’s voice, and her eyes followed as he walked up the ramp of the TARDIS and passed Jackie. He found his way to the TARDIS console, settling between Rose and Donna. “Dårlig Ulv Stranden. Better known as…” He paused, eyes on the monitor. “Wait a second.” 

“What is it?” Rose asked, glancing at the Doctor in brown. 

The other Doctor leaned forward, his shoulder brushing Rose’s as he focussed on the monitor. His eyebrows lifted as the corners of his mouth turned down. “Faster than we expected.” 

“What is?” Rose squinted at the monitor.

“The walls between dimensions are closing at twice the rate of standard quantum chronometric parametres,” Donna said, eyes flitting between the two men. “There’s no way…” 

“No way to what?” Jackie asked.

“I can’t take you home,” the Doctor in brown said, meeting Jackie’s gaze from across the console. “The… the holes, between your universe and this universe, they’re too small for the TARDIS to pass through now.” 

“Didn’t expect you to. Just wanted to see Rose off,” Jackie said, crossing her arms. “Got our dimension jumpers, don’t we?” 

“The walls are back in place.” The Doctor in brown ran a hand through his hair. “They won’t work.”

Jackie pulled the slim, yellow cylinder from her pocket, holding it out in front of her and pushing the button. Nothing happened. She pushed it again, then twice more with increasing force, until, finally, she gave up.

“But… Tony and Pete.” Jackie’s glazed eyes were on the button as Rose approached her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, but not sure of what to say.

“I’m so sorry, Jackie,” the Time Lord Doctor said. 

“Can’t you - I dunno, take us back to a few hours ago when the bloody thing worked?” Jackie asked, squeezing the button between her hands again.

“It doesn’t work like that,” the blue suited Doctor said. 

“Then _make_ it work like that,” Jackie said, eyes flashing, and stepping towards the Doctors. 

“I’m sorry,” the Doctor in blue said. 

“Stop saying you’re sorry. Put your two heads together and figure something out!” Jackie folded her arms. 

Rose’s hand fell back to her side and she worried her thumb with her teeth, brow furrowed, as she watched.

“Jackie, the walls between universes exist in a state of achronal stasis. Either they exist, or they’re broken down, at every given moment across time and space. If we’d seen them closing, we could have acted. Then. But with the reality bomb diffused… It’s as though the walls have been in place all along, now that they’re back.” 

“There’s nothing we can do,” the other Doctor filled in, as Donna shot her a sympathetic look.

“But.. What am I to do now?” Jackie asked, looking at Rose. “I only wanted to make sure you were safe, that you got back to him all right. I never thought--” She couldn’t seem to bring herself to finish and Rose ushered her to the jump seat, sitting down next to her and wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Tony and Pete…” She trailed off. “Can you take me home?” She asked with sudden vehemence, looking up at the two Doctors. “To the estate, I mean. To when I left, before?”

“Ehm.” The Doctors looked at one another, then each ran a hand through their hair. 

“You were listed as missing,” Donna said, filling in the silence. “The Doctor saw to it that you two were… sorted, when you left.”

“What’s that mean?” Jackie asked. 

Rose looked between the fidgeting Doctors and her mother. “It’s not ours anymore, is it? We turn up missing and the council assigns our flat to someone else.” 

Donna nodded, a small, sad smile on her face. 

“I don’t bloody care whose it is. You take us back to my home the day we left and I can pack it all up, at least, can’t I? It’s been an age since I’ve seen one of Rose’s baby pictures and if I’ll never get to see...” She broke off, stopping again. “I want to get my things.”

The TARDIS was silent for a moment, and the two Doctors looked at one another. “Perhaps if we choose a time after we…” 

“...But before they…”

They nodded at each other, then looked at Jackie. 

“Yes. We can pack your things. And we’ll make sure you get settled.” The Doctor in blue looked at the other. “Perhaps a quick trip in the TARDIS, to arrange for a home somewhere?” 

“But we’re missing. Must be presumed dead, yeah,” Rose said, rubbing her mother’s shoulder. “Can’t exactly pop up two years later, can we?” 

“I can fix that,” the Doctor in brown said. “Take your names off the list. It’s a small paradox - nothing the TARDIS can’t handle.”

“Doctor, that affects you, and Jack, and Martha, who knows who else…” Donna said. “It would be a lot safer to move her somewhere new, give her a new identity. You can’t be sure that paradox would be limited to one interaction -- and it’s too dangerous to put her back in 2007, at least in London. The timelines there are tangled, it’d be reckless to go back--” 

“Just take us back there for now, please,” Rose said, voice quiet. “We’ll go and pack up mum’s things and we’ll suss the rest out after.” 

The Doctors nodded, tight and silent, and the part-human one moved forward, flipping a lever into place and engaging the dematerialisation sequence, just as a knock sounded against the TARDIS door. 

The part-human Doctor flipped the lever back as it was, exchanging a glance with the Time Lord. Each raised his eyebrows, then looked over at the door again. Donna, meanwhile, looked from one Doctor to the other, then let out a little huff of annoyance, walking to the door of the TARDIS and opening it wide. 

“Hello. Is Jackie or Rose in by any chance?” 

Jackie’s head popped up, a disbelieving grin spreading across her face as she leapt out of the jump seat. 

“Pete?” 

“Hello, Jacks,” he said, smiling, and stepping around Donna into the TARDIS. He held a small boy in his arms, who reached for Jackie as they got closer. He also had a rucksack over both shoulders.

“Oh, c’mere, you,” she said, scooping the boy into her arms and holding him close as Pete stood next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Mummy’s so glad to see you, Tony.” 

“How’d you get here, Dad?” Rose asked, standing and moving over to her family. Jackie sighed, a sound of deep relief, and Rose looked over to find her brother was dozing against their mum.

“The readings on our end showed the walls were closing,” Pete said. “We sent a signal to your transporters, but you didn’t come back. I had to make a snap decision, so I got Tony and made the jump. I arrived a couple of hours ago, but the cannon put me in the middle of Chiswick for some reason. Luckily the transporters are still linked to one another, even with the base connection gone. Tracked you on foot, Jacks.”

“You left everything behind?” Jackie asked. 

“Got the emergency kit from my office - passports, jewelry, change of clothes.” He shrugged. “Think it’s better this way, eh? I know you couldn’t bear to leave Rose behind, and we all knew she wasn’t coming back.” Pete glanced over at the Doctors, then did a double take. “Lookit that, there’s two of you now.” 

The Doctor in blue jerked his head in a wink. 

“Three, really,” Donna said, rejoining the Doctors by the console. “It’s a long story. And you arrived just in time. We were about to take Jackie to fetch her things. Would’ve been gone moments later. Addio per sempre!” 

“Well!” The Time Lord Doctor pulled a lever, re-starting the sequence. “No reason we can’t let you pack up your things anyway, hm? Then we’ll find you somewhere to settle. How do you feel about the south of France?”

“No complaints from me,” Jackie said, grinning, and adjusting Tony’s position on her hip.

“You’re not to go anywhere when we land,” the part-human Doctor said, pointing a finger at Jackie around the console. “You’re missing. No one should come ‘round the flat to look for you, but you can’t risk going out. Understood?” 

“All right, no need to get tetchy,” Jackie said, rolling her eyes.

They materialised inside the Tyler flat a moment later, the TARDIS landing smoothly. Jackie and Pete headed down the ramp, and Rose followed, watching through the doorway of the TARDIS as her mum showed Pete the changes to their old flat. 

“I thought we could try the planet Felspoon after this is sorted,” Donna said to the Doctors. “Just because.”

The two Doctors shared a long look and the one in blue walked over to Rose, standing close behind her. “Go ahead. We’ll just take a quick trip and find your family a new place to live. Come back, deed in hand, before you can even blink.” 

“Promise?”

He nodded. 

“Both of you?” Rose met the Time Lord Doctor’s eyes where he stood at the console. 

He nodded tightly and when he spoke his voice was a croak. “Promise.”

“Can hardly leave you in 2007!” Donna said brightly. “Not without a paradox that could blow us halfway to Venus. We’ll be right back. Then! Then we can go to Felspoon. What a good name, Felspoon. Apparently, it's got mountains that sway in the breeze. Mountains that move. Can you imagine? You wait and see, it’ll be great, Rose, won’t it, Doctors? Till then: off you go!”

With a lingering glance, Rose turned and left the TARDIS, joining her family, and trying not to cringe at the sound of the timeship fading away. 

\--

“So why’s there two of them, now?” Jackie asked as she stirred a cube of sugar into her tea. The two of them sat on the sofa, Jackie occasionally casting a smiling glance at Pete, who shuffled by every so often as he packed the Tyler personal effects into spare bags, Tony in tow. 

“Something about some crisis, and his hand. Y’know, the one the Sycorax chopped off,” Rose said, staring down into her cup. “Dunno exactly. There wasn’t much time. First with the Daleks and all, and then towing the Earth back and dropping everyone off...” She sighed, leaning forward and placing her mug on the coffee table. “I’m not sure I’d understand the explanation anyway.” 

Jackie’s brow furrowed. “‘Course you would, sweetheart. All that training you’ve had -- could hardly understand a word you said when you were explaining the dimension cannon. Don’t you go forgetting that just because you’re back with himself.” She squinted as if in thought. “Himselves, I suppose. Which one’s the real one? The one in brown, yeah?”

“They’re both real, I think.” Rose pursed her lips, thinking, until she shook her head. “They’re both the Doctor.”

“How can they both be real?” 

“Well, you heard them. Both sound like him to me,” Rose said, sitting back on the sofa and propping a foot on the coffee table.

“Shoes,” Jackie said, poking Rose in the thigh.

“Mum, we’re leaving here forever, and everyone thinks we’re dead. No one’s going to notice if the table’s got a bit of dirt or a scuff.”

Jackie turned, facing Rose fully, and narrowed her eyes. Rose sighed and moved her foot back onto the floor. 

“I oughta call your gran,” Jackie said, sitting up straighter. 

“Mum, you can’t--”

“Well, there’s no need to worry her! She’s half-senile; no one’ll notice if she’s talking like she knows we’re still alive.”

Rose frowned. “Wait for them to get back. Then we can ask.”

“It’s just a phone call.” Jackie rolled her eyes. “He -- they -- won’t even know.” 

“They might, you don’t know that. And I’ve seen a paradox--” Rose cast a nervous glance at Pete as he passed from the bedroom into the bathroom. “It’s not worth it. If there’s a way to tell her we’re fine, the Doctors will know. They’ll want us to, if we can. If it’s what we want. We’ll ask, okay?” 

“Oh, ‘the Doctors,’ is it? Just like that? First he changes his face, now he pops up with a clone one day, and it’s all the same to you?” 

Rose took in a deep breath and let it out in frustration, looking away. 

“Jumpers?” Pete asked, popping his head into the corridor.

“What’s that, love?” Jackie sat up straighter, craning her neck to look over at him. 

“Shall I pack your jumpers?” 

“Jumpers, mummy!” Tony echoed. 

She paused for a moment, taking a long sip of her tea, then shook her head. “I hated those bloody jumpers. Had them for an age, too. No, leave them.” She looked over at Rose, as Tony ran with a screech back into the bedroom and Pete followed. “What, then. They’re both him, and you’ll travel with both of them?” 

“Yeah, I guess,” Rose said, picking up her mug and taking another sip. 

“And the blue one - he’s human?” 

“Part-human.”

“Part-human?”

“S’what he said in the TARDIS, when we were towing the Earth back.” 

“How can you be part-human?” 

“Dunno.”

“What’s the difference, between that and the Time Lord one?” 

“Dunno.” 

“Cause I reckon the human one might be the better pick, Rose.” 

“Mum--” 

“I’m just saying! He’s still the Doctor, like you said. Maybe he’s the better version.” 

“Mum.” She worried her lip for a second, then turned towards Jackie on the sofa. “You know what it took to get back here. You _know_. I’ve only just got him - them - back. It’s not time to sit here thinking about which one’s better. They’re both him. That’s what matters.” 

“I’m just trying to be practical. You might think about what this means, there being two of him.” 

She clenched her eyes shut for a second. “Like what.” 

“Well, can the human one--”

“Part-human.”

“--Part-human, then. How human is he, exactly? Can he give you a family someday?” 

“That’s not--” Rose bit her lip, turning away, and studying a speck on the wall. “I don’t know,” she said, after a moment. 

“Then you ought to find out.” 

“I’ve told you -- we weren’t even like that. I can’t just assume--” 

“Rubbish. I saw what you did, getting back to him. You might try to fool him, let him get comfortable again, but you’re not fooling me.” 

“I just want to…” Rose squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again. “Haven’t even had a chance to talk to him properly, have I? Not either of them. And here you are, ready to make us a nursery in the south of France.” 

“I didn’t say that.”

“Can we just…” She grimaced. “Just leave it. Okay?” 

“Fine,” Jackie said with a dramatic sigh, but shot Rose a small smile when she caught her eye again.

“All done!” Pete said, grinning, and walking into the room. He dropped a large duffel next to the sofa, then collapsed in the small space between Jackie and the arm rest. She grunted out a protest, but he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in tight. Tony came barrelling down the corridor, headed right at his parents, but Rose held her arms out to him and he altered course, crashing into her instead, and flinging himself over her outstretched arms in such a manner that she had to pull him up to stop him hitting his head on the table.

“Easy there,” she said, picking him up and putting him on her lap. 

“So we’re set, then?” Jackie asked, looking over Pete’s shoulder at the duffel on the floor. 

“Got clothes, all your jewelry, photos, a few films, toiletries…” Pete paused. “We’ll have to get me a few things. Shame you didn’t keep my old clothes, Jacks. Think I’d still look good in acid wash.”

“Shame you wouldn’t fit in them.” Jackie jerked, then squeaked. “Oi, don’t pinch!” 

Rose moved over to the very edge of the sofa, pulling Tony along with her. After a moment of wiggling, they were settled so snugly that Rose was ready to get up if not for the finally calm four year old on her lap. Pete reached over and grabbed the remote, turning on the telly. 

“Oh,” Pete said. “Lookit that. Is Alan Carr still alive in this universe?” 

“He was in 2007, anyway,” Jackie said. 

“Oh, that’s right. It’s 2007 here. Wow.” Pete laughed. “I should invest in Apple, or Twitter, or…” 

“Invest what, you duffer? Ain’t even got your acid wash.” Jackie shifted her body towards Rose. “Have we got to stay in 2007? Can’t the Doctor bring us back to 2014?” 

“Suppose so, but you’ll need to ask them.” 

“Where is he anyway--”

The unmistakable whooshing sound of the TARDIS filled the room, interrupting Jackie and sending a breeze across the lounge that ruffled the mail on the coffee table. Rose whispered in Tony’s ear about the meaning of the sound, pointing as the TARDIS materialised in the corner of the room, and holding him close, urging him not to be scared. Tony stared, wide-eyed, a grin spreading across his face. A moment later, the door opened wide, and the Doctor in blue popped his head out. 

“Hello! Need any help with the bundles?” he asked, a smile on his face. 

Rose couldn’t stop herself from grinning, and she stood slowly, making sure Tony righted himself, before she grabbed two bags off the floor and marched toward the TARDIS. The Doctor raised his eyebrows at her with a grin as she walked by, but she paused, noticing his eyes were a little red. He gave her a smile and a wink and held the door open wide (even though it didn’t need to be held open at all and he was kind of in the way, in fact,) and she rolled her eyes good-naturedly, heaving the duffle bag farther up her body and stepping inside. 

Walking up the ramp, she looked up to see the Doctor in brown at the console, hands propped against it, arms straight, back tense, and head bowed. She glanced around the room in search of Donna, but he was the only one there. 

“Hey.” Rose dropped the bag lightly on the floor, under one of the coral struts. “Where’s--” 

The Doctor cleared his throat. “Donna’s… she’s gone home. For a bit.” 

“Oh. She seemed so…” Rose trailed off. “No ‘Velspoon’?” 

“No.” 

“Oh. Did something--”

“Here we are!” The other Doctor and Pete stomped into the TARDIS, laden with several heavy-looking bags. Jackie followed, a rucksack on one shoulder, holding Tony's hand. 

“Ah,” the Doctor in brown said, straightening up and glancing at his twin. "Is there more?" 

“Nope!” 

“Right.” 

The Doctor at the console threw a lever into place and the part-human version joined him, hitting several buttons in quick succession. As the TARDIS started to wheeze, they fell into step together, dancing around the console and crossing paths several times before sliding in front of this button or that. Concerned with being in the way, Rose moved to stand next to Jackie and reached down, smoothing a hand over Tony’s hair. 

“Weird,” Jackie whispered at Rose. 

She tilted her head, watching the Doctors move in tandem. “It’s a bit surreal, yeah. But…”

“But?” Jackie turned her head to look at Rose, narrowing her eyes. 

“Well, it’s kinda cool, isn’t it?” Rose shrugged. “S’like they don’t even need to talk, they’re so in sync.” 

Jackie made a sceptical sound in the back of her throat.

“It’s pretty cool, Jacks,” Pete said, chuckling. 

The TARDIS landed a moment later, barely shaking at all, and Rose thought of the frequent, jostling landings, about the new knowledge that they had, in fact, been due to the timeship’s need for more than one pilot. The Doctor in blue jumped forward again, scrambling towards the door and holding it open again with an eager look on his face as her family stepped out of the TARDIS. The other Doctor remained at the console, watching silently, and when Rose met his eyes, he nodded towards the open door and exiting family with a jerk of his head, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes.

She frowned, brow furrowing. “Are you--” 

“Rose!” Jackie shouted from outside the TARDIS. “Come here! You need to see this.”

Worrying her lip with her teeth, Rose took a few steps towards the Doctor and held out her hand. He glanced down, then up at her face, and she saw him swallow. Finally, he took her hand, his fingers soft against her skin, and she squeezed, rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand. She tugged him lightly and they left the TARDIS together. 

They’d landed in the living room of a roomy yet quaint home. Large, white-framed windows lined two of the four walls, letting in streaks of golden light, and exposing a verdant green field on one side and a quiet road on the other. The lounge was decorated with a few pieces of furniture: a comfortable looking fabric sofa in front of a sleek flat screen, a coffee table, and a dining table in one corner of the room, surrounded by six chairs. The lounge opened into a roomy, breezy looking kitchen, where Tony was already opening the fridge and grabbing out a juice box with Pete’s assistance.

As Rose stepped out into the bright room, the Doctor in blue met her eyes from across the room with a big smile, and the Doctor next to her released her hand, shoving his into his pockets before she could recapture it. 

“Welcome to Carcans!” said the part-human Doctor.

“Carcans?” Rose asked, folding her arms and looking around. 

“Gironde! Southwestern France. Well known for the Côte d'Argent beach, just a couple of miles away. _Brilliant_ surfing. Not to mention the Great Dune of Pyla's nearby - tallest sand dune in all of Europe.”

Jackie trailed around the edges of the room, peering out windows, but Rose could see her attention was on the Doctor’s words.

“This area's also home to the Bordeaux wine region. World renowned.” 

“We don’t speak French, y’know,” Jackie said, returning to the centre of the room and sitting down on the sofa. Her voice was warm even as she narrowed her eyes at the Doctor in blue, who leaned against the wall next to her. 

“Well,” he replied, running a hand through his hair, “see how you like it. You can always move. The deed’s in there.” He jerked his head towards an envelope on the dining room table. “Passports and debit cards, too. And the house is fully equipped - food, linens, the works. Three bedrooms, an office, and a BMW out front. Everything you’ll need to get on your feet.” 

“How’d you manage that?” Pete asked, lifting Tony to sit at the dining room table with his juice. 

The Doctor in brown cleared his throat. “Made a few choice investments in your name, a few decades ago. Arranged for the house through a solicitor. Still, you can move wherever you like, so long as you use the IDs in that envelope; not your real ones. You have common enough names that we’ve kept those the same, but you’ll want to memorise you new birth dates.” 

“Have you got an investment portfolio I can look at?” Pete asked. 

“Online. There’s a computer in the office, if you want to see.” 

Pete nodded and followed the Doctor in brown as he headed down the corridor towards the office. Jackie stood and called Tony over to her, following the pair, and telling Rose over her shoulder that she was checking on Tony’s and her room. Rose moved over to the sofa, sitting down, and the other Doctor sat next to her, his long legs poking up in sharp angles at the knees. She toyed with her hands nervously in her lap and he reached over, grabbing one, and twining their fingers. They sat quietly, listening to Jackie’s pleased exclamations echoing from the hall. 

“Something happened to Donna,” Rose said after a long moment. 

“Yeah.” He let out a long breath. “The human brain… It’s delicate. It’s not… not meant to have a Time Lord’s level of knowledge. It was - burning her up. She couldn’t take it.” 

Rose gasped, squeezing his hand involuntarily. “So she’s--”

“Oh,” he turned to look at her, eyebrows raised, “No. She’s home. She’s fine. Totally fine.” 

“Oh, thank god.”

“She just… we… well, he, he was the one who…” He swallowed audibly. “She doesn’t remember us. Travelling with us. The TARDIS, none of that. We… he. He had to remove her memories of that. All of it. To save her.” 

Rose sat in silence for a moment, thinking about Donna’s kindness, and her excitement, and the way she flourished through travelling with the Doctor. About how she hadn’t seen the potential in herself, in the pocket universe, until the very end. “I’m so sorry, Doctor.” 

“Yeah.” He squeezed her hand. “But she’ll -- she’ll have a good life. I think.” 

“She will. She’s good, that one.” 

“The best.” 

“I’m sorry,” she said again. 

“I just thought - you should know, where she is. Why she’s-- He doesn’t want to talk about it.” He let out a dry laugh. “Neither do I. Haven’t changed that much. But I thought you should know.” 

“Thank you.” She paused for a long moment. “But you’re-- part-human. It won’t affect you like that, the metacrisis--” 

“No. I’m mostly Time Lord. Little spark of human. Not a problem. Just-- the other way around. It couldn’t really work.” 

“Okay.” She nodded to herself. “Okay.”

The Doctor in brown reappeared in the corridor, walking briskly into the living room. Rose released the other’s hand, casting him a guilty look. 

“So, they like the bedrooms?” Rose asked, toying with her earring. 

“Think so.” He clenched his jaw, averting his eyes. “Look, there are… three bedrooms here. You could stay. If you want.” 

“What? Don’t be ridiculous,” Rose said. 

“I mean, both of you,” the Doctor said, still not meeting her eyes. “You could both stay. And have a life here. A good life.” 

“No.”

“He’d stay with you,” the Doctor continued, sitting down on Rose’s other side, hunching, and putting his forearms on his knees. “Tell her.” 

The Doctor in blue looked away as well, running a hand through his hair. “Well, if you _wanted_ to stay, I’d…” 

“I already said no. Absolutely not. I’m not leaving either one of you.” 

“Right,” said the Doctor in blue. 

“He’s part-human. You should just consider--” 

“I’m not staying here. I’m sure the room will be lovely for a visit if I feel like sleeping outside the TARDIS. Okay?” 

The Doctor was silent for a long moment, still hunched and tense, until he released a long sigh of defeat. “Yeah.” 

“Brilliant.” She stood, turning away from the Doctors before allowing herself to exhale deeply. “I’m going to go tell my family we’re leaving.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to fadewithfury and rointheta for betaing this!

When they left the new Tyler home soon after, the many hours Rose had been awake weighed on her. Before departing, Jackie had made them promise to return in a few days, stuffing them full of sandwiches, despite Rose’s reminders that the TARDIS was well-stocked, and Jackie didn’t even know where the nearest grocery was. 

In the console room, Rose had glanced at each of the Doctors, who’d studied her with identical serious expressions. The TARDIS was too quiet, now, without Donna or the others who’d filled the place with raucous celebration only hours ago. The silence stretched out around them as soon as they dematerialised. It was suddenly daunting, the thought of how to put things together again, when she’d been aiming to recapture what they had before. So Rose did the sensible thing: she let out a gigantic yawn and said she was off to bed. 

Some things were better left to the morning, relatively speaking.

She hadn’t even thought to ask if her room was still there, and was halfway down the corridor leading to her old room before uncertainty filled her. She pressed on and found the familiar door right where she expected. Holding a palm to the dark wood for a second, she opened the door and her throat tightened. 

Rose took a moment to look around, at the dirty clothes strewn about, and the excessively pink duvet draped half on the bed and half across the floor. It felt like it belonged to another life, one where she was young and messy and oblivious and only concerned with the next adventure. Her room back in Pete’s world had been small, mostly empty, and very, very tidy. The sight of all her old things - alien knick knacks, photos of her and the Doctor stuck in the frame of her mirror - made her feel old. 

She pulled off the duvet and top sheet, sniffing them to be sure they were fresh (they were). Rose made the bed in quick, neat motions. She peeled off her jacket and trousers and removed her bra from under her shirt. Sparing a glance at her pyjama drawer, she shook her head, and turned down a corner of the bedspread, climbing under. 

She was asleep within minutes. 

\--

The next morning, the TARDIS shower was a welcome homecoming, its perfectly warm water cascading from multiple shower heads and massaging her tight muscles until she felt like maybe she could face the day. That, and there was nothing like 25th century bath products. 

After, she pulled on the tightest pair of jeans she could find, which settled low across her hips, and grabbed one of the hoodies from her closet. Had she really had so many? She tended towards functional jackets now, but today comfort was key. The hoodie was pink and soft and, gratefully, even more comfortable now that it fit loosely. And her trainers, at least, fit as she remembered. 

Fiddling one last time with the waistband of her jeans (she’d spent five minutes staring at her belts in consternation before deciding not to wear one), Rose left her room, heading towards the galley.

She slowed her steps, looking closely at the grated floor and the coral walls and every tiny detail she thought she’d memorized but knew now she’d never really captured. She took a deep breath, then swallowed, and forced herself to speed up, to walk at a normal pace, to ignore the sense of surreality threatening to swamp her at the thought of finally being back, with twice as many Doctors as she’d left behind. Still, not even the strange uncertainty about what two of him would mean for them could eclipse her deep joy at being home. 

In the galley she found the Doctor standing at the stove top, poking at a rather impressive fry up in a pan. He was dressed in the blue suit, but then he was wearing a light blue oxford under his shirt as well as a reddish-brown, floral patterned tie. Really, once he’d changed clothes, how was she supposed to know? 

“Hello,” he said with a smile, catching her eye. “You slept a long time. Nearly ten hours, I think. Not _quite_ sure. Still getting used to my new time sense. It feels a bit less, well, sensitive than the one I had before.” 

Definitely the part-human one.

“Morning,” she said, sitting down at the modest eat-in table a little ways down along the opposite wall. It was set with two napkins, two knives, and two forks. From her vantage point she could see his lean, elegant frame as he grabbed a tomato, cut it in half, and placed both halves face-down in the pan. 

“You still like fried bread more than toast, right?” 

She couldn’t stop the smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “You’re making me breakfast?” 

He bobbed his head. “Well, not _just_ you. Us. Ehm... Whoever wants some.” 

She nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah. Fried’s good. Whatever’s easiest.” 

He hummed in acknowledgement and tossed the toast into the pan with a flourish, pretending as though he wasn’t looking for her reaction out of the corner of his eye. 

“Y’know I can tell when you’re showboating.”

“Me? Nah.” He jerked the pan in a perfect arc and the eggs, sausage, and toast flipped, landing with a small thwack. “Say, have you ever tried sujuk?” 

“What’s that?” 

“Turkish sausage. Goes rather nicely with a fried egg. Sliced.” 

“No. Why, have you got any?” 

He tilted his head, then frowned. “No. Just English sausages. Actually, I might have some from the planet Meere, but they’re made from these, er, sea snails.” He turned down the corners of his mouth. “They’re not bad though.” 

“Eugh. No.”

“What about pancakes? Maybe... the American kind, with maple syrup?” 

“Yeah, I like those all right.” 

“I can make them. I have the--” He moved away from the stovetop and started sifting through a nearby cabinet. “At least, I think I have-- If I can find the flour--” 

“Doctor.” 

“Hm?” He turned around, hands stuck in the top shelf. 

“Think the eggs and sausage and tomato and fried bread’ll be fine.” 

“Oh.” He lowered his arms, stepping back and looking into the pan. “It’s - It’s a lot of food, isn’t it.” 

She chuckled. “Yeah. I mean, not that I don’t like a full English, but… Y’know. It doesn’t need Turkish sausage and American pancakes and alien sea snails.” 

He nodded, as if to himself. “Right. Right. Ehm… Tea? This’ll be ready in a minute.” 

“Yeah, that’d be great.” 

The Doctor moved over to the opposite counter, which was next to the table at which Rose was seated. He flicked on the kettle and grabbed two mugs and two tea bags. Rose watched as he poured the water a moment later. He appeared deep in concentration, measuring the sugar with a small spoon, adding a perfect splash of milk, and stirring first one, then the other, and then the first again. When he placed both mugs on the table and turned back towards the stove, she grabbed one and pulled it near, breathing in the fragrant steam. She stared down into the cup, her perspective shifting between the bottom of the mug and her own eyes, reflected. She bit her lip. Seconds later, a plate appeared in front of her. 

“Wow,” Rose said, “this smells amazing.” 

“Yeah, I ran a restaurant once for a couple of weeks in the 1970s. Well. Head chef, but politically, I was definitely in charge. Funny story, actually.” The Doctor settled his own plate in the spot next to her, sat down, and tucked in, not bothering to elaborate. 

Rose let out a little huff of laughter, looking away, and grabbed her knife and fork. They ate in silence for a few minutes and she snuck glances at him between gulps of her perfectly-brewed-tea. When she finished the last bites, the Doctor was already up next to her, gathering her plates and silverware and carrying them over to the sink. He sat down again a minute later, his legs crossed at the ankle, evaluating her with a contemplative look. 

“What.” 

“Hm?” He raised his eyebrows, all feigned innocence. 

“Just… you’re staring.” 

“It’s… really nice, is all. You sitting here again. But it takes a little getting used to, hm?” 

She laughed, averting her eyes and looking up at nothing. “You’re telling me.” 

She let the seconds of silence collect between them again, ignoring the way he was still just watching her with relaxed eyes. Finally, she met his stare again and leaned forward in her chair, placing her forearms on the table and positioning her body towards him. 

“Okay, can you tell me what this ‘metacrisis’ thing is? Is that weird, if I just ask like that? Cause, you seem really…”

“What?” 

“You. Really you. And so does…” 

“The other me.”

“Yeah, and, that’s… I’m--” She struggled, lifting one hand uselessly in the air. 

“It’s-- too weird?” His face fell.

“No, that’s not it. It’s-- Look, the more Doctors, the merrier, as far as I’m concerned, but I just…” She grimaced, biting her lip, as she tried to put words to the feelings of utter strangeness. “I want to know why. What’s-- what’s the difference? Between you and--”

“Oh, that,” he said, looking relieved. “Not much, really. In most ways we’re exactly the same. Just a few things.” 

She raised her eyebrows, wordlessly asking for elaboration. 

“Well, the time sense, as I said. That’s dulled a bit. I suspect the telepathy may be as well. Can sense him a little, just a sort of presence at the back of my mind. But then I was always a weak telepath, for a Time Lord, so it may be the same for him. Ehm. Well. Then there’s the single heart thing.”

“What, really?” Rose leaned forward, pressing a hand to his chest without thought. 

He smiled, a little half-smile that curled into a full one as he leaned into her touch. Beneath the layers of fabric, she could just barely feel the soft, slow beat of a single heart. She pressed her hand more firmly and focussed on the feel of it, staring at her hand on his chest, and losing herself for a second in the first real difference between the two men.

“I can tell.” She looked up at him and found him watching her, that soft smile still on his face. 

“Yeah.” 

She removed her hand and he caught it with his, giving it a squeeze. She squeezed back, then brought her hand back to her mug, taking a sip of her tea. 

“So if you’re the same, you two, then why’s it just you in here making me breakfast?” 

He looked away, rubbing at the back of his neck. “I knew I wouldn’t, so I did.” 

“Yeah, this is pretty weird,” she said, shaking her head. 

“He’s -- we’re --” He sat up straighter, looking at her carefully. “I’m fairly certain he’s taking what happened with-- He’s the one, who had to, and that makes a difference, I think, and--” 

“Yeah.” 

“And-- since I know, what I’d do, I also know what I can do differently. And I also know that he knows what he’d do -- we’d do, really -- and that’s all the more reason for him to do what he’s doing, since he knows -- we both know -- what I’ll do. Blimey. That too confusing?”

“No, I get it. I understand.” 

“And I wanted to. Maybe it’s a little easier, for me. Reaching out. Because I’m feeling less-- or maybe it is a product of that spark. I’m not sure. But I thought about you waking up, and I know how you get -- all snappy and in immediate need of tea. And I wanted to make you breakfast. So I did.”

A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Thank you.”

“Anyway!” he said brightly, changing the subject. “There’s still a lot I don’t know. I’ve run a few tests, but there’s more to work out. It’ll take some time. I do know a few basics have changed. For one thing, I need a lot more sleep.” 

“Yeah? What, maybe more than once a week now?” 

“Mm. Might need to every night. Slept almost four hours last night and I even feel like I could sleep a bit more. Particularly after what was, as you pointed out, quite a hearty breakfast.” He yawned, then scrunched up his nose. “I’ve never personally felt the effects of a glucose crash before now, so that’s new.”

“Add it to the list, yeah?”

“Oh, yes. We’ll puzzle it all out.” He stretched in his chair, the blue suit jacket riding up and exposing his waistband and the bottom of his tucked oxford as he lifted his arms.

“Anything else?” Rose asked, forcing herself to stop staring.

He lowered his arms, crossing them as he thought for a second. “There was a touch of Donna in my speech patterns at first, but that seems to have dissipated. Far as I can tell, I’m something like ten percent human. I’ll need to sleep a bit more, stay hydrated, make sure I don’t get poisoned, maybe take a multivitamin, but otherwise...” He shrugged. “I’m mostly the same.”

She chewed on her bottom lip. 

“What?” he asked. 

“It was the hand, from the fight with the Sycorax? You were. That hand.” 

“Yeah. It happened when Donna touched it. Because of the regeneration energy he funnelled into it.”

“So you’re… made of a hand. Did you grow from it? Or…” She shook her head, clearing the image. “What’s the difference, between a metacrisis and, say, a clone? Not - not that it matters, if you are, or you’re not--” She rubbed at her forehead, clenching her eyes shut. “I’m sorry. That was stupid of me. I wasn’t thinking. I’m not calling you a clone.”

“No. Rose, it’s fine.” He leaned forward, expression earnest. “I think, philosophical debates aside, the easiest way to look at is that… a clone’s generally created through growing another organism from the DNA of the original, but it’s a new creature. It usually takes a while. If I were a clone, I wouldn’t have my memories, my knowledge, my feelings-- Everything I was, before that Dalek interrupted us, I still am.” 

“Right. ‘Course.” She grabbed his hand, trying to reassure him.

“Although,” he said, “there are ways to imprint a clone with the memory of its source being. There are a lot of ways for consciousness to be moved, or copied. Like, there are a number of societies where one can upload the entire contents of their consciousness into a hard drive and live simultaneously as an incorporeal essence in a machine when they dream. They update their files on the cloud with their real life experiences every night… Or some planets allow the elderly to upload into an android, which can be replaced every fifty years, or even placed into an artificial planet with their loved ones, essentially forever.” 

“What, like some sort of e-heaven?” 

“There are worse things. Look.” He angled his knees toward her, looking at her seriously. “There is a lot of room for debate. On what makes someone who they are. On what it means to be someone, or to be a mere copy. Is that android still the person she was before? Or that clone? What if the original model’s still around? Does changing or adding or subtracting mean that they’re not real anymore… And I’d understand if--” 

“I’m not saying--”

“Rose. This is a big adjustment. I -- we -- both of us, we know that. And if you decided it _was_ too much…”

“It’s not. Okay?”

“I wouldn’t blame you.” 

“Doctor. You know how I was travelling with that - that dimension cannon?” 

He tilted his head back, looking as though she’d caught him off guard, but he nodded.

“I spent a lot of time, looking for you. I’ve been … to a lot of places. Different times, different universes. I’ve seen a lot of parallel versions of people I know, not even counting Pete or Rickey. I even saw a couple of you, in pocket universes.” He opened his mouth as if to interrupt, but she continued. “I’d rather… I’d rather tell you both about that. Sometime. If that’s okay.” He nodded and she continued. “So, yeah, it’s a bit weird, there being two of you. But… you don’t need to worry. I’m not trying to philosophise; I’ve seen too much. Too many mes and yous and mums and dads and -- I’m simple, yeah? If you look like you and sound like you--” She stopped, worrying her lip. “Scratch that, actually. That’s not even… I just mean. If you tell me you’re you, and you know how I take my tea, and your hand feels right in mine.” She squeezed it. “That’s all that matters.”

He swallowed and nodded, his eyes shining. She smiled at him and tugged him a bit closer, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tight. It was awkward, the way they were seated next to one another at the table, but his arms found her waist and he pulled her to him, letting out a deep sigh. This close, she could feel that he was much warmer than his counterpart, and she added it to her mental list before she could stop herself. They parted a second later, and he looked at her with such warmth that it made her stomach flip.

“Rose…” He trailed off, eyes wide and shining, and he seemed at a loss. 

“Yeah, I know, I’m pretty brilliant.” 

He chuckled. “That you are.” 

She released his hand and started to stand, grabbing her empty mug. Then she paused, brow furrowing. “Y’know how you said -- he -- wouldn’t come for breakfast?” 

“Yeah?”

She deposited the mug into the sink and moved over to the stovetop, peering into the pan at the leftovers. “Maybe we should bring him something to eat.” 

“I can almost guarantee you that he’d appreciate that.” 

She broke into a smile, grabbing a plate from the cupboard and loading it with the remaining sausage links and pieces of bread. She shot him a sly look; his posture was casual, relaxed. “That why you made enough for three, then?” 

“Well. I wouldn’t want to be rude.” 

“You?” 

“Yes, me. It’s important to feed oneself properly. No matter how many selves one has.” 

She laughed, plucking a fork and knife from the silverware drawer and jerking her head in the direction of the doorway. 

\---

They found him seated on the floor in the console room, legs dangling where he’d lifted a panel of grating, his glasses perched on the tip of his nose. He was holding a small, round, metal object with one hand and pressing a soldering iron to it with the other, deep in concentration. 

“What’s wrong with the time phase oscillator?” the other Doctor asked, plopping down next to the Time Lord and narrowing his eyes. 

“It’s fine. She’s just a bit tired after towing the Earth. It might need to be replenished. Here, have a look.” He handed his counterpart the soldering iron and the round object and stood, brushing off his trousers. 

“Glasses?” the Doctor in blue asked, eyes on the TARDIS part, hand outstretched. He hummed his thanks as the other handed over the specs. “Rose brought you breakfast.”

The Doctor in brown walked over to her, taking the plate, and thanking her with a small smile. He sat at the jump seat, leaning forward and balancing the plate on a flat-ish span of TARDIS console. Rose sat next to him on the very edge of the seat.

“So a trip to Traemaria, then.” The Doctor in blue held the oscillator close to his face, turning it in his hand and touching it with the soldering iron here and there.

“Yep,” the Doctor said around a bite of sausage, which he was eating with his hands instead of the knife and fork Rose had provided. She rolled her eyes. “Not a bad place to visit.” 

“Can think of a thing or two Rose might like to see. But the coating looks a bit worn. She’ll be able to make the trip? You checked the thermocouplings as well?” 

“Shouldn’t be a problem. The diametre of the coating is still three quarters of a centimetre.” 

“Apart from a patchy spot or two.”

“It’ll be fine.” He paused, a slice of fried bread in his hand, his elbow on the console. “Might want to make you a screwdriver before we go.” 

“I’ve got it,” the Doctor in blue said. He leaned forward, replacing the oscillator under the grating, and moving the grated panel back into place. When he stood, he found the opposite side of the console and pressed several buttons. 

“And give me back my specs.” 

“You know, I may actually need them.”

“Too bad.” 

“You don’t even--” 

“You can get your own. On Traemaria. Very shortly. So give them back.” 

“Wait, you don’t even need them?” Rose asked, glancing at the Doctor in brown. “You wear them a lot, Doctor.”

“Nope!” the Doctor in blue said from across the console, expression cheeky. “He just likes the way it looks. Which is why I’m keeping them.”

“That’s not--” The Doctor frowned. “They provide a bit of magnification that’s often useful, even if my vision doesn’t need correction.”

“Mine’s 20/10, at best. Your visual acuity is at least twice that. I’m keeping them.”

The Doctor in brown huffed, rolling his eyes. “Fine, then. You’ll be the one to pick up a second pair, then.” 

“Fine.”

“So!” The Doctor in brown stood, empty plate in his hand. “I’ll be right back to put this away while he makes himself a sonic screwdriver. And then... How are you feeling? Rested? Think you’re up for a quick trip?” 

“‘Course.” She grinned at the Doctors. “Let’s go see Traemaria!”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: A short description of graphic violence.  
> Betas: fadewithfury and rointheta

“What sort of place is Traemaria?” Rose asked. She was manning a section of the TARDIS console as directed, while the two Doctors piloted, moving seamlessly around her.

“Lovely little planet, mostly made up of the two great twin cities. Ahia and Nri, they’re called,” the Doctor in blue answered. “One’s got food, jewelry, clothes… center of consumer trade. The other’s the center of industrial trade. Machinery, fuel, spare parts… And a great place to get Traemarium.”

“Traemarium?” 

“For the time phase oscillator,” the other Doctor said. “A coating of traemarium keeps it working properly, and it’s nearly worn off. The TARDIS can do most anything, but she’s not designed to tow planets. Not without a bit of maintenance after, anyway. The whole planet’s named after the stuff; it’s the chief export. Not the only place in the universe to get it, but...” 

“...When the planet’s named after it,” the other added, “safe bet the stuff’s in stock. Hold tight, Rose!” 

The TARDIS rocked several times, then came to a stop with a crash, and Rose was almost thrown to the grating, but the Doctor in brown caught her. His hand curled around her waist and his fingertips dug into the fabric of her hoodie. 

“Easy,” he said. 

“Thanks.” She looked up at him, smiling, but he released her, standing up straight, brushing off his suit jacket, and tugging at the seams. 

“Ready?” The part-human Doctor grinned at Rose just as the TARDIS console made a ‘dink’ noise and popped out another sonic screwdriver. He plucked it from its docking station and twirled it in his hand before putting it in his pocket. Rose nodded, glancing between the two men. 

The Doctor in brown walked towards the TARDIS doors first, moving around Rose and the other Doctor in brisk steps, and opened the door. The part-human Doctor wiggled his eyebrows at her and gestured with his head for her to follow. The smile spread across her face again as she complied and the Doctor in blue followed her out. 

When she stepped out onto the orange pavement, she found that the TARDIS was parked in the cool shade provided by a great, domed building. It resembled the Taj Mahal, only without any minarets, and was set in what looked like green marble, glittering in the light provided by two white suns on opposite sides of the sky. Rose spun slowly, taking it in, as people who appeared to be human shuffled around her, flowing in and out of the great building’s tall, wrought iron gates.

In the distance, Rose saw the outline of a city on each side of the dome, one that looked almost European with its short, tudor buildings, the other with large smoke stacks billowing out bright blue smoke, and boxy, flat buildings. Between the domed building and each city was one long, orange road, scattered with a few people walking along. Beyond that, white grassy land stretched out as far as she could see.

When she looked back towards the TARDIS, she found the two Doctors standing next to one another, obviously watching her take it all in, with matching small smiles. Then, the Doctor in brown kicked off the TARDIS with one foot, smile disappearing, and gave Rose and the other a terse nod each. 

“You two should go see Ahia.” He pointed a finger at the other Doctor. “And pick up some specs.” 

“Wait,” Rose said, brow furrowing. “You’re not coming with us?” 

“I’ll catch up. There’s nothing to see in Nri anyway and I’ll just get the Traemarium bit out of the way.”

“But…” She frowned. “We don’t mind. Going with you. I don’t mind.” She attempted a laugh. “Can’t exactly be boring, right, alien worlds, even if it is just a shopping trip.” 

“Nah,” the Doctor said. “What good is two of me if we can’t keep you from the boring stuff? Have fun. Try the sufganiyot; they’re delicious.”

“But... it’s my first trip back.” She worried her lip and his face softened. 

“I’ll be right along, soon as I get the Traemarium.” 

Rose sighed. “All right. Fine.” 

The Doctor nodded, starting to walk away, when Rose called his name. He turned.

“The cities, they’re really far apart. Shouldn’t we have some way to contact one another?” 

The Doctors glanced at each other, and the one in brown shrugged, digging a hand into the pocket of his coat. He managed to reach in up to his elbow, eyes cast upward and tongue touching his lip in concentration, before he pulled out two small walkie-talkies and tossed one to his counterpart. 

“There. They’re long-range.” 

“Right,” Rose said. “Okay. Off you go. No dawdling!” 

He broke into a smile, nodded, and turned, heading towards Nri. 

She was silent for a beat, then looked up at the Doctor in blue, who watched her with warm eyes from his spot by the TARDIS. He stood straighter and walked over to her, holding out the walkie-talkie. 

“Here,” he said. 

She took it from him gingerly and stuck it in the front pocket of her hoodie. He stuck both hands in his pockets and indicated the road towards Ahia with a jerk of his head. She started walking first, hands shoved in the hoodie, one still clutching the walkie-talkie, and she only glanced back once at the brown Doctor’s retreating form. 

As Rose walked, she snuck a glance at the Doctor every so often. He was all long limbs and angles, dead gorgeous, but he looked a bit skinny without the long coat billowing behind him, and there was a chill in the air. Maybe they could find him an overcoat in the city. 

They were silent for the remainder of their walk, but as the skyline grew closer, Rose couldn’t help the way her breath quickened, the way the smile on her face spread. After twenty minutes, they reached the entrance to the city, stepping through another pair of large, wrought iron gates into the bustle.

Now that she could see it properly, Rose noticed that what looked like European Tudor architecture was actually dark red vines grown across tall, white buildings in angular patterns. The buildings varied in height, though there were no skyscrapers, and each was dotted with several doors, which were painted with symbols. Rose passed a door with a painted on top hat, a painted on drumstick, and a painted on scarf before it all clicked. 

“So they’re all shops? Whatever’s drawn on is what they’re selling?”

“Yep! Well. Mostly. Not like a drumstick shop has nothing but drumsticks. That one just means it’s a restaurant. Or was it a butcher?” He pointed at a door with a question marked painted on it. “I’ve no idea what that one is.” 

Rose laughed and when the Doctor dropped his hand, she grabbed it, moving closer to him as they walked. 

“So, you knew he’d do that too, then? Leaving us alone?” Rose asked, casting the Doctor a sidelong glance. His eyes widened, but she nudged his arm with her shoulder before he could start sputtering. “S’okay.”

“He’ll be right back. He wasn’t lying.” 

“Right, but how fast can he be? It’s probably an hour’s walk, yeah? A bit of time to get the stuff, to drop it back in the TARDIS... What’s that going to be? Two hours, swanning off? And on my first trip back?” 

“Ish.” 

“I think he’s avoiding me.” 

The Doctor adjusted his hand, twining their fingers together. After a few seconds, he said, “We do really need the Traemarium.”

“You’re dodging the question.” 

“You didn’t ask me a question.”

“Oh, god, you two are so… Fine. Is the other Doctor avoiding me?” 

“Well.” 

She stopped and tugged his hand towards her, forcing him to slow his step and meet her eye. “Doctor.” 

He looked up, over her head, and then down at his feet. “...Not exactly?” 

“What, then.” 

“Well, he just…” He scrunched up his nose. “You know what? I think this is betraying his confidence.” 

“What?” She squinted at him. 

“He wouldn’t want me telling you what he’s thinking.” 

“You mean you don’t want to tell me what you’re thinking.” 

“Not always. But neither do you, Rose Tyler! Neither does anyone. And who can you trust to keep your secrets, if not yourself?” 

“Oh, so there’s a secret, is there?” 

“I didn’t say-- Look, let’s just say, we like to remain enigmatic.” 

She rolled her eyes, huffing, and walking again. “No problem there.” 

“Rose,” he said, stopping her this time. “Do I know what he’s thinking? Probably. It’ll be harder to say as time goes on. The more experiences we have separately, the less identical we’ll be, though most of our similarities are hard-wired. But… I don’t think you’d want me telling you things he’d -- we’d -- be uncomfortable with you knowing, would you?” 

“No, ‘course not.” 

“And -- _and_ \-- really, that puts me in the middle, doesn’t it, between you two? Or, it’s like I’m some sort of sentient Doctor-to-Rose translator device.”

“I don’t think of you as--” 

“I know you don’t. You’ve been… amazing. Absolutely brilliant. But pretend for a second we weren’t both the Doctor, and we were, I dunno, Keisha and Mickey.” 

“Yeah, I get it. It’s not fair to you. Nor him.” 

He nodded with a soft smile. “It’s going to take some working out. How we all relate to each other.” 

“Yeah. You’re right. God, I’m daft. I’m sorry.” 

He squeezed her hand, starting to walk again. “Now! Let’s find him some specs, hm? Think I’ve got a credit stick in this suit somewhere.” 

\--

The store with the glasses painted on the door did not, as it turned out, accept credit sticks, asking instead for Traemarian currency, which was made up of intricately carved wooden coins the general size and shape of poker chips. They walked through several streets searching for a currency exchange booth the Doctor swore he remembered from last time, but it was nowhere to be found. 

When they returned to the shop, they had to settle for a barter, trading a glasses de-scratching spray that the Doctor found in his pocket for the specs. The shopkeeper had seemed pleased, at least, asking where in Nri the Doctor had found such a formula, and something passed over his face at the question, but his expression cleared a second later. 

They left the shop hand in hand and the Doctor pulled her into a dim spot between two buildings, glancing back and forth before leaning in. 

“Should’ve known from the people walking about, but… We’re in pre-revolutionary Traemaria. They’ve not had offworld interaction yet.” 

“Oh. Is it safe?” 

“Should be fine. We won’t stay long, and we look like them. But you might want to turn off the walkie-talkie. They don’t have offworld technology. Don’t want to draw attention.”

Rose opened her mouth to object, and he cupped her shoulder with his other hand.

“We can feel each other. We’d know, if the other was in danger. And he’ll be able to find us.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Rose reached into the pocket of her hoodie and found the volume on the walkie-talkie, turning until it clicked off.

The Doctor released her shoulder. “Doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun till he shows up, hm?” 

They spent the next hour ambling through the busy city, talking and window shopping through a furniture store, a store filled with musical instruments, and a store filled with Traemarian pets, which were a variety of happy looking yellow lizards, ranging from the size of a gecko to the size of a komodo dragon. At the Doctor’s prompting, Rose scratched the largest lizard under the chin and was surprised to see it close its eyes, letting out a purr to rival the most affectionate housecat. 

Not long after her stomach began to growl, Rose and the Doctor stopped in front of a door with a doughnut painted on it, and he looked at her with a knowing twinkle in his eye. 

“Think we might talk them into bartering for doughnuts?” the Doctor asked.

Rose shrugged, breaking into a grin. He grinned back at her and opened the door, pulling her inside. 

After a few minutes of discussion with the sweet old lady behind the counter, they agreed on trading a banana in the Doctor’s pocket, which he said came from the Traemarian outlands, for a selection of bite-sized doughnuts. 

The shopkeeper had never seen a banana before and the grin that spread across her face as the Doctor demonstrated unpeeling it was the sweetest thing Rose had seen in a long time. The woman set to making a special banana filling immediately and scurried into the kitchen at the back of the shop, leaving the Doctor and Rose with their selections in the empty restaurant. 

Sitting at a long table lining one wall of the shop, the Doctor laid a handkerchief on the table and broke each doughnut in two. He plucked one half of the redberry doughnut off the fabric, popping it into his mouth, and grinned around the bite. Lifting up the other half, he held it in her direction, and she rolled her eyes, grabbing it from him and sticking it in her mouth. 

“‘Course they’re all jelly,” Rose said, trailing a finger above the selection until she grabbed one with purple filling that looked particularly good and ate it in one bite. 

“Oi, what’s wrong with jelly?” he asked, wiping his mouth. He’d smeared a bit of red on his cheek and Rose laughed, leaning forward, wiping it off with her thumb, and sticking her thumb in her mouth before she could think twice. His eyes widened, but he smiled right away, and his expression was soft. He rolled another piece of doughnut closer to her. “Here. Try this one. Chocolate.” 

The yonberry doughnuts were their favorite and when they finished their platter they slipped out of the shop with a goodbye yelled towards the kitchen in the back. Her hands were incredibly sticky, until the Doctor managed to talk the shopkeeper around the corner to trade two wet wipes for a small bottle of glasses cleaner the Doctor found in his right pocket.

After checking out all of the shops on the main streets, they found a bench in the sun, and sat down, watching the people walk by. 

“They all look human, Traemarians,” Rose said. “But you said they’ve not had any off-world contact.” 

“They are, basically, but they’re not of Earth-origin. It’s a pretty typical look, humans. Time Lords. We come out this way because it works. It’s a good design.” 

“Yeah.” 

Rose watched mums with prams, young couples holding hands, and the occasional elderly person plodding along with a cane. After a few moments, Rose shuffled in her seat, turning towards the Doctor and reaching for something to say.

“Do you know what they use for transport? Haven’t seen any cars or horses or anything, and the road here was pretty empty.” 

“Oh! Good eye. Traemaria developed the short-range teleport at a very early point in their civilisation. Not many people actually live in Ahia, and certainly none in Nri. They all live out in the plains. Very rural. But they pop in instantaneously, when it’s time for work or to do the shopping. The city’s open all day and all night, people popping in and out.” 

He pointed at an open doorway - the first Rose had seen without an actual door - where people were streaming in and out. Above it hung a sign painted with a vortex-like symbol inside of a triangle. 

“See that? Teleports. Some people have their own, but they’re expensive.” 

Rose scrunched up her nose. “I wouldn’t want to teleport everyday. Gives me a headache.” 

He looked at her for a second, then turned down the corners of his mouth. “Suppose they get used to it.” 

Silence crept in again and Rose stuck a hand into the pocket of her hoodie, running her fingers along the speaker of the walkie-talkie. 

“An hour or two,” she said, letting out a big sigh. “Don’t need a watch to know it’s definitely been longer than that.” 

The Doctor frowned. “I’m sorry, Rose. I don’t know what’s taking so long. Maybe he had to--”

An ear-splitting whoosh from above interrupted the Doctor, and Rose looked up in time to see a small spacecraft, on fire, shooting across the sky, its trajectory clear: it was going to pass the city, and then it was going to crash. 

“Oh my god, come on!” Rose yelled, running after it. She looked over her shoulder to find the Doctor was following, lips moving, though she couldn’t hear him over the noise. He stayed behind her as they ran, weaving through the Traemarians, most of whom had frozen, gaping up at the sky. 

Finding the gates leading to the road between Ahia and Nri, Rose darted around it, turning and running straight into the plains, never taking her eyes off of the plummeting ship. Once they were in the open, the Doctor caught up to her, and she pumped her legs even harder. 

The ship crashed several hundred metres ahead with a deafening noise. The ground shook, but Rose kept her pace, eyes on the flaming craft. Her concern for the passengers eclipsed all other thought until the jostling of the walkie-talkie reminded her of her link to the other Doctor, and she pulled it out of her pocket, switching it back on, pressing the button and shouting through short breaths, “A spacecraft’s just crashed outside of Ahia. Get over here as soon as you can! People might be hurt!” 

She jammed the receiver into the front pocket of her jeans and, approaching the ship, she surveyed the situation. It was shaped sort of like a small aeroplane, large enough for five or six people. One wing was buried into the white earth, and the windows in the hull of the ship were broken, fingers of flames dancing in the space the glass had left behind. Between the wing and the tail was an entrance, but the door was closed tight. 

Rose ran around the wing of the craft, moving close to the entrance, but keeping enough distance to avoid the smoke. 

“Doctor!” she yelled, but he was right behind her. 

“Yep,” he said, and pulled out his sonic, pointing it at the door. After a second, it popped open with a click and Rose chewed her lip, trying to see inside as the smoke billowed out. 

“Let me,” he said. “Respiratory bypass.” 

“You sure you’ve still got a respiratory bypass?” 

He nodded. “Slightly diminished capacity, but I can hold my breath a lot longer than a human.”

“Yeah. Okay. Go.” 

He nodded, then pulled a lapel of his jacket in front of his eyes and ducked inside. Once he disappeared, Rose chewed her thumb, paced, and tried to look into a window of the craft, narrowly ducking a face full of smoke. She called for the other Doctor on her walkie-talkie, but the line was totally silent. 

Meanwhile, a small crowd of Traemarians was gathering, standing a ways back, and watching the ship with expressions of nervous awe. They were too far away for Rose to talk to without moving away from the ship, and there was no way she was doing that. But the sight of them calmed her, the knowledge that civilisation was nearby, that there were people she could call for help. 

When the Doctor emerged, it was with two little green people, one slung over each shoulder. He held them in place with his looped arms, and his step onto the scorched grass was a little bit unsteady. Rose rushed forward, holding her arms out, but the Doctor moved past her, his steps even, and deposited first one person, then the other, onto the soft white grass.

“Are there more?” Rose asked. The Doctor shook his head.

As soon as the two aliens were on the ground, Rose joined them, scanning their faces and bodies for signs of obvious injury. They were familiar - the green skin, wide proportions, short stature, and basic humanoid features. One was a male and the other a female, and both were unconscious, faces lax, but they were breathing.

“Maglathians,” Rose and the Doctor said together, then looked at one another, the Doctor’s expression betraying a brief second of shock, before Rose snapped herself to her senses and leaned over the female. She looked to be the more injured party: her bare hands were covered in black ash, and there was a streak of dark blue blood across her face and neck. 

“Is there any internal bleeding?” Rose asked, unzipping the steel grey, leather-like jacket from the female Maglathian. 

“Ehm.” The Doctor pulled out the sonic and scanned the male, quickly moving from head to toe, and then moved to Rose and did the same to the female. “No. No internal rupture. A few fractures and some burns, on the hands, but the injuries aren’t life-threatening. Their clothing is fireproof.”

“So it’ll mainly be damage from smoke inhalation. Maybe concussion.” 

“Yeah,” he said. “Unless their physiology is substantially different than most humanoids’.” 

“It’s not.” 

“Are you--”

“They’re the same. In Pete’s World. I’ve met them before. Wait.” She pressed her ear to the female’s chest, then looked at the Doctor. “She’s stopped breathing.” 

Leaning forward, Rose pressed her mouth against the female’s and puffed twice, then compressing her chest quickly but firmly. The Doctor stood back, hovering over the male with his sonic, but Rose could feel his eyes on her. She worked on the Maglathian for what felt like several minutes, desperation slowly creeping in, but just when she was ready to stop, the woman coughed, jerking upward, although her eyes remained closed. 

After watching her for several breaths, Rose moved away and the Doctor crouched down next to the female, scanning her again, and looked up at Rose with a huge grin on his face. “Her breathing is steady now.”

Allowing a deep sigh of relief to escape her, which almost turned into a cough, Rose collapsed back onto her haunches on the grass. Her arms and legs felt like jelly, but euphoria was beginning to set in as she watched the Doctor pull off the male’s jacket and check for any other surface injuries.

“Oxygen,” Rose said after a second. “We should still get them oxygen. Have they got oxygen here?” 

“Yes. At the capitol. The hospital’s in the capitol. But we can’t. We need to get them to the--”

“Oi!” Rose yelled at the growing crowd of people, who were still keeping their distance, watching the scene before them with a mixture of fear and naked interest. “Who has a teleport?” 

No one spoke, and Rose growled in frustration, standing and marching a few steps closer, pointing her finger at a young man in the front of the crowd 

“You. Have you got a teleport?” 

The man licked his lips, looked away, but said nothing.

“Rose,” the Doctor said, standing. “We need to get them back to the TARDIS. I can carry them. But we have to go--” 

“ _I_ have a teleport.” 

Rose turned to see a huge, muscular man in a military suit, with a bald head, thin mustache, and white gloved hands. His coat was adorned with a gavel symbol, stitched into the breast pocket. He came closer and Rose stepped aside, moving to stand next to the Doctor as the man evaluated the injured aliens. 

“Please,” she said. “You have to help them. Their ship crashed, and they’re hurt. They need medical treatment. We can pay, whatever it costs.” 

The man’s face hardened until it was set in deep lines and his cold, grey eyes didn’t waver from the couple as he pulled a sleek, silver gun from the holster on his hip. He shot the male, then the female, each between the eyes. Then he turned in their direction.

Rose yelled, the words on her tongue blending together into a sound of pure outrage. She tried to step forward, but the Doctor grabbed her sleeve, stilling her, and grasped her hand in his. The man walked towards them, the gun in his hand hanging at his side. He regarded them with a cool expression. 

“You’re to come with me, now.”


	4. Chapter 4

“I’ll ask you this again: who is funding the rebels?” 

Rose met the man’s eyes, her arms stretched out in front of her, fingers twined. “And I will tell you again, like I’ve been telling you for the last hour: I’ve no idea what you’re talking about. I saw that ship crashing and I ran after it. I’m trained in emergency medical care and I was worried. That’s it.” 

The bald man let out a sigh, shaking his head, and pulled out the chair opposite Rose, sitting down and propping his elbow against the shiny, white table between them. Rose’s walkie talkie lay there, the man’s arms on either side of it, and he picked it up, watching her. They sat in silence for several long moments. The man continued to stare, eyes calm and focussed, and spun the walkie talkie in one hand. It glinted in the stark overhead light every time the speaker side faced up. 

There was a faint buzzing somewhere in the room, but that, and the sound of the man’s fingers brushing against plastic, were all Rose could hear. She let her eyes glaze over, wondering where they’d taken the blue Doctor. Whether the other Doctor even had a clue anything was wrong. 

Back at the ship, the bald man had grabbed the Doctor’s arm with one hand and tapped his wrist with the other before they were swept away. The Doctor’s hand had wrenched from hers as they’d teleported, and hers had felt cold ever since. The unpleasant, familiar feeling of non-linear movement, like a hypnagogic jerk, had sent her stumbling briefly into the arms of the Doctor. He’d looked at her with silent, beseeching eyes laden with the wordless promise he’d made a thousand times before: _I will get us out of this_. Then, she’d been pulled away from him, and shoved into a tiny, bright room.

They’d been through worse, when there was only one of him, when she hadn’t the first clue about tactical manoeuvres and withstanding physical pain. They’d get through this too.

When the man dropped the walkie talkie on the table with a clack and leaned forward, Rose didn’t flinch, didn’t look away. 

“We already know that you’re in line with Airi and her crew, even if your communicator’s been disabled. Your friend told us everything. Now, this will go a lot easier if you just tell us what you know. Tell us who’s funding the rebels and whatever you know of Airi’s plans, and we’ll let you and your friend go.” 

Rose’s eyes widened in detached amusement and she had to fight for a second to stifle a smile. “You see, that’s impossible. Because neither me nor the Doctor have any clue who this Airi person is.” 

“We’ve got information on all the major players,” he said, tapping the table. “Been building up our intelligence for years. We know Airi, and Diedru, and the rest of the rebel leaders. And we know you’re new recruits. We know what a persuasive woman Airi is. No one would fault you for making a stupid decision and participating in that… ruse.” 

“Ruse?” 

“Please.” He rolled his eyes, then waved his hand. “The sympathy strategem. With the ship.” 

“That wasn’t a ruse. Those Maglathians _crashed_ here. Their ships aren’t able to withstand the gravitational and magnetic pull of larger planets. They come from a tiny little moon with a tiny little atmosphere, and their equipment--” She stopped herself. “And you killed them. They were injured. Defenseless.” 

“The law is very clear.” He narrowed his eyes. “Attempting to protect or house alien life is not only against the law; it’s treason of the highest order. No matter what she would have you believe.” 

“Treason?” 

“Don’t act like you don’t know the law.” 

“Bit of a dumb blonde. Humour me.” 

“Contact with aliens became treason when those... things burned the first twin cities and Capitol to the ground. Maybe only your grandparents are old enough to remember it now, but the Capitol doesn’t forget. That ship, those aliens, they were a threat. All alien life is a threat to the safety and security of the Capitol. To act in their protection _is_ treason, nothing less.”

Rose shook her head. “There are peaceful species out there. Those people were harmless. They needed help and I helped them. The Doctor and I aren’t part of some rebellion. We saw an emergency and we were trying to help. We don’t know anything about this Airi person. That’s all I can tell you.”

“Peaceful species? I’m not here to talk propaganda. The Capitol monitors offworld activity, and warns approaching ships to leave our jurisdiction. But that ship didn’t leave; it came directly into our atmosphere, not a mile outside Ahia. And there you were, ready to draw a crowd and save the ‘poor, defenseless things.’” 

“I’m telling you--” 

“That level of staging took money. Took time to plan.” The tendons in his neck and jaw bulged as he moved closer, body poised over the table, close enough for Rose to smell his breath. She forced herself to maintain eye contact and, finally, he leaned back again. “I want to know who’s funding the rebellion, who’s funding Airi and her followers.” 

“I keep telling you: the ship crashed because Maglathian ships are susceptible to the magnetic fields of large, oxygen-based planets.” 

“Right,” the man said, crossing his arms and leaning back in the chair. “And who would know about alien races except for a rebel?” 

She shook her head. “What exactly am I rebelling against?”

“Rebels, offworld relation advocates. Semantics.” He sneered. “Either way, I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that aiding, housing, or protecting alien life is punishable by death.” 

“What’s your name?” Rose asked, sitting up straighter and toying with a wayward strand of hair. 

“General Aesur Shaw. High commissioner for Capitol defense and security.” 

“Right. General. My name is Rose. I’m telling you that even though you didn’t ask because I want to be really clear, here: I’m not part of any rebellion.”

“Rose,” Shaw said, offering her a smile. “I want to be really clear, too: you and your doctor friend will be executed, for attempting to save those aliens. Whether you’re some deluded good samaritan or a rebel does not matter to me. You two are utterly unimportant. You can’t protect the rebels, and you have exactly one shot at protecting yourself. The only way for you to save yourself, and your friend, is for you to tell me everything you know.” 

She let out a deep sigh, folding her arms. “So what happens if we don’t talk?” 

“Then you’ll be transported to a holding cell and executed via electric shock tomorrow morning.” 

“A holding cell where?” 

Shaw looked away, clicking his tongue once before speaking. “The tunnels beneath the Capitol.” 

“And that’s where we are now, the Capitol.” 

“You’re in the military police division of the Capitol defense headquarters.” 

“In that big building, though, yeah?” 

“We’re in the Capitol building, yes.”

“And you just want information about the rebels. We give you that, we go free?”

“If you give me something I can use. Donors, funders, base locations, plans.”

“Would you put both of us there, in the holding cell?” 

“If you want to see your friend again, that’s not the way to--”

“I’m just saying, I think it might help us decide what to do, the Doctor and me, if we had a chance to talk.” 

“After we’ve had a chance to question him more thoroughly, that can be arranged. If you cooperate.” 

“Then we’ll think about it.” 

“You’ll want to decide soon. I refuse to cater to the whims of low-level rebel fighters. Either you’ll talk, or you’ll die.”

Rose looked away, glancing at the the corner of the room, where tawny, thick tiles met plain, white walls. After a moment, Shaw stood, brushing his jacket and trousers, and straightening his collar.

“I’ll give you some time to consider your response while I talk to your friend.” 

He grabbed the walkie talkie, turned around, and rapped twice on the heavy metal door, which opened silently. Then he was gone. 

\--

She had no idea how much time had passed in the plain room, but it felt like hours. After checking for cameras, Rose had got out of her chair and scanned every tile, every square inch of wall and door, for some weakness, some means of exit, but there was nothing. She’d pressed her ear up against each wall, hoping to hear the voice of the Doctor, any Doctor, or at least something useful from Shaw or someone, but the room was quiet, apart from the buzz of the lights.

When Shaw returned, he opened the door himself. 

Through the open door, Rose could see a bright chamber set in white and brown. Earlier, she’d only had a second to glance at it before Shaw had pulled her away from the Doctor and stuffed her inside the interrogation room. The chamber was wide open, like a cafeteria or an auditorium, but beyond that, she couldn’t make out its purpose or its location within the Capitol. Rose stood in front of the table, craning her neck, and watched as men and women in military garb walked past in pairs, talking with heads huddled, not bothering to look inside. 

“It’s time for you to talk now,” he said. Even though his voice was calm, his cheeks were flushed, red blotches against tanned skin, his hands in fists at his sides. 

“I want to talk to the Doctor first.” 

“I’ve met with him. He wants you to tell me everything you know. Now.”

“I will. But let us talk first. We’ll tell you everything after.” 

“I told you: if you cooperate, you can see your friend. He told me everything. Now it’s your turn. If the stories match up, then you can see him.”

“That’s not what you said before.”

“What I said before is irrelevant. You’ll tell me everything you know, and you’ll do it now.” 

“You were willing, before. You said...” Rose narrowed her eyes. “Something changed. Was it the Doctor, did he--”

He growled in frustration, stepping inside and slamming the door behind him. He marched towards her and Rose stood taller, calmly watching, until he kicked her chair away with one foot and raised his hand, bringing it down hard, knuckles against her cheek. Rose stumbled back, catching herself on the table as sharp pain bloomed across her face, resonating into her neck and shoulders. Her vision went dark, and she saw nothing but scattered white blotches, like flashbulbs. She kept her head down as her sight cleared, and clenched her fists, fingers itching for a weapon or escape she didn’t have. 

“I do not have to justify myself,” he said, voice low. “You are not protecting anyone with your silence and there is no one coming for you. Airi does not care if you live or die.”

“I just want to talk to the Doctor,” Rose said, her tone even. “Like you said before. Then we’ll cooperate.” 

He went silent, and Rose kept her eyes on her trainers, ignoring the throbbing in her cheek and the way her field of vision in her right eye was starting to narrow. She was swelling already. 

With a rough exhale through his nose, Shaw grabbed Rose’s upper arm and pulled. His short nails bit into her hard enough to break the skin, but Rose kept her eyes ahead as he dragged her towards the door and rapped twice. It swung open and he pulled her through. 

“Where are we going?”

He didn’t answer. As soon as they were in the chamber again, he tapped his wrist, and the world shifted, disappearing around them. Shaw managed to keep hold of her, but she straightened up first and in a split second took note of their surroundings: low-lit, no one else around.

She used her weight to pull him in closer, nearly behind her, and before he could react, she stamped down hard on his instep, pulled his torso down, and smashed the back of her head into his nose. Hissing, Shaw let go of her arm and Rose ran. Before she rounded the nearest corner, she felt a shock go through her starting from her shoulder blade, and she went rigid as all of her muscles seized, the pain enough to make her yell. 

Rose fell to the ground, her body completely rigid, but though she was unable to move, unable to speak, she was completely aware of her surroundings. 

Shaw’s footsteps sounded in the empty corridor and soon he came into view, his bald head, bloody nose, and detached expression backlit by the muted overhead lights. 

“Enough,” he said, crouching down, grabbing the front of Rose’s hoodie, and hauling her up into a seated position. 

He reeled his arm back and she saw a small device wrapped around his knuckles, black and stony looking with two small sensors. He pressed it to her neck and she felt her windpipe closing. She sputtered, gasping for air, but she couldn’t move, couldn’t fight, could only feel Shaw’s tight grip against her chest, his knee jabbing into her side. Soon her vision grew hazy, Shaw’s furious, red face blurring. Then, it darkened into nothing.

\--

There was something soft and scratchy under her cheek and a warm, slight pressure against her waist. The side of her face exposed to the air was throbbing, hot and cold at the same time, and she turned her head, lifting a hand to touch where it hurt, but a cool and gentle hand grasped hers and pulled it away. It took her several seconds to remember where she was and why her face hurt. Then, it all clicked into place.

“Doctor?” Her voice was raspy.

“Easy,” he said, as she started to sit up. 

She opened her eyes and found her range of vision limited in her right eye. She could feel where swollen cheek met swollen eyelid, but it didn’t seem like her actual eyesight was affected. 

The Doctor in blue sat criss-cross next to her, his back against a dark stone wall. He trailed his hand from her waist to her back as she sat up, as though he expected her to need catching at any moment. 

“I’m all right,” she said. “Where are we?” 

“All right? You’ve been out for almost five minutes.”

“Is that all?” She coughed. “Felt like longer.”

“You could have--” He stopped, then started again. “Are you feeling any nausea? Dizziness? Confusion?”

“Nausea, yeah.” 

“You should lie back down.”

She sat up straighter, looking around. The room was about the size of a closet, totally barren but for a toilet in the corner. One wall was open to a corridor, and the bars of their jail cell were made of a material like a dark marble. The Doctor looked mostly unscathed, the only evidence that anything was amiss was the way his suit was awry: a small rip over one breast pocket, a few smudges of dirt on the trousers. 

“Rose. Please lie down?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“They’re holding us here until our execution. There’s no way out. Well, there’d be an easy way out, with the sonic. Plain old latch lock, easy as pie. But they’ve taken the sonic, so we’ll need to wait for the other Doctor. He’s coming. Shouldn’t be too hard, breaking us out, but there’s not much to be done till he arrives. So you should rest.”

Rose said nothing, swallowing against the scratchy burning in her throat. 

“Rose. Lie back against the wall at least? Come here.” 

He moved his hand to her waist, and his fingers clenched against her as though he wanted to tug, but he didn’t pull her toward him. She nodded after a second, then scooted back. A wave of nausea overtook her as her back hit the wall and she leaned into him, resting her good cheek just under his collar bone. He adjusted his position, supporting her, until his hand was on her upper arm.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a moment. “I didn’t know it’d be like this. If I’d had any idea the regime was this violent, I’d have taken us right back to the TARDIS as soon as I realised what time we were in.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Tell me if you hear a ringing in your ears or if you start to get a headache.” 

“Doctor, it’s not your fault.” She snuggled in closer, and, after a moment of hesitation, wrapped an arm around his waist. “I’m the one who ran after that ship.”

He placed his hand over her forearm. “Of course you did. I did too. It was the right thing to do.” 

“Yeah.” 

She breathed slowly, focussing on the feel of wool and lean muscle beneath her, and the burning in her throat began to dissipate. 

“Shaw hit you,” the Doctor said.

“Yeah. You?” 

“No.” 

“Huh. Bit of a coward, only hitting me, don’t you reckon?” 

“I saw his limp, when he brought you in here. He underestimated you.”

She huffed. “Not really, knocking me out and all. Besides, that was after.” 

“After what?” 

“When he hit me, it was in the interrogation room. Out of nowhere. He was--” She stopped herself.

“What?” 

“Angry. I thought he’d let you and me talk, but he changed his mind.” She shrugged. “Though suppose he did, in the end, huh?” 

“And then he hit you.” 

“Yeah.”

“What happened after that?” 

“He dragged me off, and I tried to run, but he got me with a taser or something. Couldn’t move at all. Then he used some sort of asphyxiation device on me. That’s what knocked me out, not the smack.” 

She felt his body tense next to her. “Doctor?” 

“Yeah.” He sounded calm, even though she could feel the rigid set of his muscles against her side. 

“You can tell… he’s on his way right now?” 

He let out a deep sigh, and some of the tension drained from him. “I can tell he’s determined, and he’s getting closer.”

“Yeah?”

“It’s at the back of my head, like an itch.”

“I just wonder…” She frowned. “Shaw seemed so much angrier, when he came back. And here you are, in a holding cell. Thought maybe you’d escaped.” 

“There’s open rebellion going on now.” 

“What, really?”

“Only in the last few hours. Protests in the streets. Suppose it’s us who triggers their revolution.” He exhaled. “Should’ve figured.” 

“How do you know?” 

“I could hear people talking, out in the corridor, before Shaw teleported me here. Still got Time Lord hearing. Mostly, anyway.” 

“So he had bigger fish to fry, then, and we weren’t talking. S’why he got fed up.” She stretched out her legs, adjusting her position. “And the other Doctor’s probably out there stirring up the protests.”

“It’s what I’d do. Create a diversion large enough to clear out the Capitol.” 

“Me too.” 

She sighed and tightened her grip around his waist. He squeezed her forearm in response. They sat together in a silence that gradually grew comfortable, and Rose began to feel warm, almost cosy. She let her thoughts drift, tempted to close her eyes, but resisted, knowing it would be dangerous to sleep while she was likely suffering from a concussion. She felt him crane his neck and look down at her face every so often and figured he was checking to make sure she kept her eyes open. The cell was silent, no hint of the rebellion above.

“Wait,” Rose said.

“What?”

“I can hear it.” She shifted, pressing her ear to his sternum. “Your one heart.”

“Oh.” He laughed softly, and she could feel the vibration against her ear. “Sound all right? It looked good on the sonic angiogram. Bloody inefficient, though, one heart. Could feel the difference when I ran.” 

“It must feel so slow.” 

She lifted her head and turned to face him and he released her forearm, but the fingers of his other hand tightened protectively against her side, letting go only when she turned too far for him to keep contact. 

“Well. Sometimes.” He smiled, but as he scanned her face, his smile faded, a shadow passing over his expression. “Can I…?” 

“What?” 

He lifted his free hand and brushed a strand of hair back that was hovering near her damaged cheek. 

“Oh. Yeah. S’just bruised, I think. That Shaw pillock’s got a weaker backhand than you’d think, stout as he is.” 

He leaned in closer, and traced his index and middle fingers from her eyebrow to her jaw, so gently that she could barely feel it. 

“Can you see normally?” 

“Can’t see out of the corner of my eye, ‘cause of the swelling, but otherwise, yeah.” 

“Any trouble focussing your eyes?” He lifted his hand between them. “Follow my finger.” 

“No. S’fine,” she said, watching his index finger as it moved from her left to her right. “I’m fine, _Doctor_.” 

After a moment, he nodded, satisfied, and returned his hand to her face. He tilted her jaw upwards, trailing his fingers along the ticklish skin of her neck, and she fought back a shudder. His eyes darted from her cheek to meet her gaze, and something shifted between them. She turned her head towards him, lowering her chin slowly. His fingers moved with her, until they faced each other and his hand was loose and cool on her neck. 

“No ringing in my ears,” she said. “And the nausea’s better now.”

“Good,” he said, clearing his throat. “That’s good.” 

He was so close that she could feel his breath against her lips, soft and cool and faintly sweet from the doughnuts. She looked down at his mouth, at the bottom lip that stuck out a little too much, and worried her own with her teeth. When she glanced up at his eyes again, she found him staring at her, eyes dark and boundless, and her stomach flipped. He cupped her neck, his grip still gentle, but deliberate, and leaned in, very, very slowly. 

Then, he kissed her. 

He moved his lips sweetly against hers, the light pressure sending tickling sensations into her stomach. Her eyes slipped shut and she sighed against his mouth, winding a hand around his shoulder and holding him closer, though neither of them deepened the kiss. Their lips brushed again and again, but the kiss remained gentle and slow. Finally, they broke away, and the air was still. He rested his forehead against hers and when he sighed, it was a sound replete with relief. 

She swallowed, eyes still shut. _Now_ she was a little bit dizzy. 

He brought his mouth to hers again, and she responded eagerly, shuffling towards him, tangling her hand in his hair, but he slowed them down, rubbing his hand from her neck to her shoulder in a soothing motion. After a moment, he broke away again, looking at her reverently, his eyes wide and a little glassy.

“Rose…” 

Before she could answer, could even think of what she might say, there was a sound like a sudden gust of wind. They turned in tandem, looking out into the room beyond the black, marble bars, his hand still on her neck, hers in his hair. 

“Hello,” said the other Doctor, who stood next to a young woman with dark eyes and skin and light hair. “This is my friend Airi. We’re here to rescue you. Pack your things!”


	5. Chapter 5

Rose jerked away from the Doctor, her hand running through his hair as she pulled it free and shoved it behind her back. 

The brown suited Doctor kept his eyes in front of him as he quickly approached the door to their cell, sonic already outstretched. He pointed it at the lock, its buzz filled the room, and a second later, the door sprung open.

She turned to face him despite the adrenaline pumping through her system that was telling her to get up and run. He stood back in the corridor, but even from there Rose could see his eyes were gleaming with the sort of manic energy that foreshadowed the toppling of empires. At her movement, his eyes at last landed on her. His brow furrowed, eyes darkening, and he stepped closer to the doorway of the cell, his eyes darting to the Doctor in blue. 

Rose looked away, eyes landing on her trainers, and she moved into a crouch, preparing to stand. The Doctor next to her noticed, jumping up and leaning towards her, offering a hand. She glanced between him and the Doctor in the doorway, who was still watching the Doctor in blue, his face set in lines of shadow from the bars of the cell, his expression stormy.

With only a second of hesitation, she grabbed his hand. He kept it steady and she pulled herself upright, managing not to sway. 

“All right?” he asked, the words soft and close to her ear. 

“Yeah. Thanks.” She released his hand, meeting his concerned gaze for an instant, before moving towards the doorway of the small cell, feeling him follow.

There was no avoiding the other Doctor as she exited, perched as he was just outside the doorway, but she lifted her chin high and cast her eyes ahead towards Airi, who was still standing where they’d landed, observing the jailbreak with an air of detached impatience. 

“Rose.” 

She turned, not knowing whose voice had sounded behind her. The Doctor in brown stepped toward her, eyes dark and trained on the right side of her face. Behind him, the other Doctor watched, jaw clenched. 

“Let me?” He held up the sonic, but her stare remained on his wide eyes and furrowed brow, and she wondered how much he’d seen, what he was thinking, until he wiggled the sonic a bit and his words sunk in. 

“Oh… Yeah. Yeah, sure.” 

He took a tiny step closer and moved the sonic close to her face, though it didn’t touch her skin. It started to buzz, that particular muted sound she associated with the healing settings, and after a few seconds, the throbbing in her face cooled, her full range of vision returning to her eye. 

With a terse nod, he side-stepped her and moved forward into the corridor, joining Airi. 

Rose and the other Doctor followed and the four began walking down the corridor in silence until soon their pace was brisk. The corridor was dim and empty; it seemed to be the same one Rose had landed in when she’d tried to escape from Shaw. 

“Where’re we headed?” the Doctor asked, walking alongside Rose. 

“Capitol broadcast room,” the other replied, glancing back to look not at his counterpart, but at Rose, eyes flitting from her face to her feet as though he were analysing her gait. 

“Where is it?” Rose asked.

“A few levels up.”

“Have you got a message?” 

“Not me. Airi.” The Doctor jerked his head towards Airi, who was walking with purpose, half a step ahead of the rest of them. 

“Can’t we teleport there?” Rose asked. 

“Not without the coordinates.”

“But don’t we have to worry about running into guards?” 

“We’ve created a diversion,” Airi said. “There’s a massive protest happening on the outskirts of Nri.”

They fell into silence, walking quickly, rounding corner after corner, the floor gradually beginning to incline, and though Rose didn’t grab the hand of the Doctor next to her, she could feel the movement of air as his arm swung close to hers, as well as his eyes on her face. 

“I’m fine,” she said, without looking at him. He didn’t respond.

The other Doctor spoke up a moment later, shooting another quick look at Rose before scanning the path ahead. “Airi, here, has been building a grassroots movement for the advancement of offworld relations for the last, oh, decade or so.” 

Airi turned her head to look at them, a small smile across her face, and gave a nod. 

“Really?” Rose asked. “A decade? You look so…”

“Young? She is.” The Doctor jerked his head towards her. “Peaceful alien lands in her backyard when she’s… what was it, thirteen?” 

Airi nodded again, eyes ahead.

“Emergency landing, of course. Back then, she didn’t understand the law, not really, and the alien’s young, and kind, and looks quite human - well, ‘human,’ relatively speaking. Traemarian, at any rate. Apart from the tail. She takes him in, in secret - gives him food, lets him stay in the shed on her family’s land… Soon her family knows, then her village… And the brilliant thing is, they meet him! They talk to him; he’s got a translator. And they see for themselves.”

They rounded another corner and the Doctor continued.

“News spreads. It’s that kind of revelation that just feels _right_ : there’re peaceful aliens. By the time she’s old enough to understand what she’s doing, she’s already a grassroots leader, and a brilliant one at that. Got almost all of Ahia and Nri on her side, and that’s _before_ they watched that general shoot two injured aliens after your emergency rescue.”

“Grassroots. No giant rebel base, then?” Rose asked. 

Airi turned her head towards Rose, making eye contact for a brief second before tilting her head back in laughter. It lit up her face and suddenly her sense of detachment, of that urgent mission statement, was gone, and Rose could see the type of sparkling, caring person Airi was. The kind of person who inspired people to listen, even when the message was treason.

“No,” she said. “Got hardly a pittance among us.”

“Giant rebel base?” The Doctor asked, voice high and nose scrunched. “Where’d you get that idea?” 

“That general, Shaw, he’s called…” Rose shrugged, watching as Airi’s eyes narrowed in recognition of the name. “He thought there’s someone funding you. That the crashed ship was part of some sort of conspiracy. S’what he wanted me and the Doctor to tell him about.”

Airi slowed her pace until she was walking next to Rose, and the Time Lord Doctor was farthest ahead. “He was the one who hurt you, wasn’t he? He’s known for his temper.”

“Don’t worry. Been through worse.” Rose gave her a small smile, then bumped Airi’s shoulder with her own, grin blossoming. “Didn’t tell him anything, though, I promise.” 

Airi laughed. “Thanks for that.” 

“Funding…” The part-human Doctor spoke up, and Rose turned to look at him as he narrowed his eyes in thought. “See, Shaw views the rebellion the way _he’d_ run one. No idea that it’s not about funding, not about bases, not about secret conspiracies…”

“...It’s just about showing people the truth, showing them they ought to care…” the other Doctor interjected, turning down the corners of his mouth and tilting his head. “That they already do, really.”

“Anyway,” he continued, holding the sonic in front of him with a shrewd look on his face and listening to its buzz. “It’s been building for some time. Through the underground. Secret talks, messages. Telling people they trust, who tell others. Ahia and Nri are lovely cities. Some of the best in the galaxy, but… The people are a diaspora. It’s the teleports that keep trade centralised. But that’s not where people _live_. So they traveled through the villages. Kept it quiet, kept it away from the Capitol.” 

“That’s amazing, though. Getting all that support yourself,” Rose said. 

“It was Diedru who did it.” Airi smiled, her face lighting up as she said the name. 

“Diedru?” Rose frowned. “Shaw mentioned him.”

“They think he’s another rebel leader, but he’s never been that. He’s just told his story. He’s always been kind. That’s all we ever needed. He could’ve gone home years ago,” Airi said, shaking her head. “He fixed that transport pod long ago. But he wants to help. Wants to stop the Capitol. End the depression.” 

“Depression?” Rose asked. 

“The Capitol taxes our products, our lands, our money… Everyone is poor. We spend the day in Ahia or Nri, where it’s clean, and work, and then we go home to filth.” 

“That’s awful.” 

“That’s one argument even the sceptics can understand,” Ahia said. “Offworld relations means offworld trade, means less poverty. That’s what it’s about, now. Helping people, because the offworld policy is just one problem. Diedru just shows people that the Capitol lies.”

“But what happened today,” Airi continued, looking at Rose, her face bright and animated, “That was… Incredible. I heard right away. Everyone’s seen Diedru, heard what we have to say… But he’s just one man. When you saved those two people today… They looked nothing like us, and still they were peaceful. Everyone saw: it’s not just him. And they saw what it looks like, when species work together.” 

Rose smiled sadly. “They’re called Maglathians. They’re lovely people.” 

“What Shaw did…” Airi shook her head. “It’s not the first time. We hope to one day put him on trial.” 

The Doctor stopped short, turning towards a small, unmarked door in the corridor. “Hold on a tick! Airi, is this it?” 

“What?” 

“Broadcast room?” He wiggled the sonic. “Got some wireless transmission signals emanating, right over here...” 

She looked around the hallway, then at the door, as though she were retracing her steps. “I think so, yes.” 

“Brilliant. Stand back.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows as he approached the door and held out his hand, the sonic taking on a higher buzzing. The lock released with a bang and he pulled the door open, gesturing for Airi to step inside. Rose and the other Doctor followed and he entered last, shutting the door and locking it behind him. 

It was definitely a broadcast room. Though they had climbed several levels in the deserted corridors, they evidently hadn’t reached the surface yet, as the room had no natural light. At its front was a small, open area, like a set. Cameras pointed at the centre of the room, similar to those Rose was familiar with on Earth. Beyond the stage and cameras was a huge array of monitors, all set to various feeds like different television channels. Most of them showed the Capitol, or stuffy looking men and women in military garb. Propaganda.

“What are the coordinates here?” Airi asked.

“Negative r, pi, six, twenty eight,” the Doctor said without referencing anything in particular.

“What do you need the coordinates for?” Rose asked, walking towards a camera and craning her neck to look into the viewfinder. 

“So Diedru can teleport here.” 

Rose’s eyes widened. “You’re bringing him here? To the Capitol?” 

“It’s me and him, together. We’re going to tell those people at home who don’t know about the rebellion that there are peaceful offworlders. We’ll tell the ones who do know to keep fighting. And then we’ll tell the Capitol that their time is up.” Airi grinned. “And the Doctor’s going to make sure it’s broadcast across every station.”

“Not a bad idea,” the Doctor in blue said, trailing his hand along a monitor. 

“She had the coordinates to the jail,” the Time Lord Doctor said, sitting down at a chair in front of the largest monitor and tapping his fingers against a complicated keyboard in front of it. He looked at Rose. “Not a bad trade, all things considered.” 

“Could call it a win-win,” the other said. 

“Pardon me.” Airi smiled at the three of them, then pulled a walkie-talkie from a small pocket in the front of her tunic. She turned away, moving towards the corner of the room. 

“Just have to override the frequencies…” the Doctor said.

The Doctor in blue sat next to him and began typing on another section of the oversized keyboard. The one in brown glanced at his counterpart briefly, eyes shuttered, before focussing on the keys closest to him.

Rose leaned against the nearest wall and watched them work. They were hunched over with equally serious demeanors, and as they typed, each monitor began displaying the blank set before them. 

“Ready when you are,” the Doctor in brown said. 

After a few seconds of silence, the room swirled with a sudden gust of wind and a man appeared next to Airi. 

He was the same height as Airi, somewhat short, and very lithe, with deep tan skin and dark brown hair that curled past his shoulders. He looked only a few years older than Airi, but then Rose knew too well that might not mean anything. He was also beautiful, with dark eyes framed in darker lashes, a straight nose, and full lips. 

“Hello Diedru,” the Doctor said, jumping out of his chair and approaching the pair. “Pleasure to meet you. Heard a lot about you. You and Airi ready for the spotlight? Come over here, then.”

The pair looked at each other, clearly communicating without words, and Diedru smiled, just a little thing. Airi let out a sigh and broke into that captivating smile. She grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the set. The Doctor turned several lights on, blanketing the stage in a warm glow, and moved back to the monitors, standing behind his twin. 

“Got it from here,” the part-human Doctor said without bothering to look at his twin. “Airi? When that blue light comes on over the camera, it means you’re on.” 

The fluorescents dimmed, the blue light over the camera switched on, and Airi and Diedru stared into the camera, their quiet intimacy suddenly transformed into an air of serious entreatment. Airi was a natural leader, that was clear, but her charisma was rooted in her compassion, in her clear devotion to Diedru and the establishment of offworld contact. And Diedru was perfect: charming, gorgeous, quiet, and graceful. No one could say he resembled the noxious alien threat Shaw had warned of in the interrogation room. 

Airi began speaking first, telling the story of how she found Diedru years ago, and then he shared the story of his homeworld, the mission he’d undertaken in his planet’s youth service organisation, and his last minute jump into an emergency pod when the ship malfunctioned.

Even though the story was touching, and the passion and devotion between the pair was evident with every shared look and seamless shift in voice, Rose found herself staring at the Doctors.

The Time Lord stood with his hands in his pockets, his coat sleeves bunched up behind his wrists, and watched the stage. From where Rose stood, he was in profile, and the set lights cast a subtle glow on his face, highlighting his solemn air. Rose scanned from the top of his perfectly messy hair down to his dirty trainers, then found herself looking at his twin, whose matching expression was bathed in the light of the monitors as well as the light from the stage. 

They were the same. Yet they weren’t. She’d kissed one, and not the other. 

In perfect synchronicity, both men turned to look at her, faces identical pictures of concern as their eyes flitted across her face. They glanced at each other, and then the Doctor in blue returned his focus to the keyboard in front of him. The other Doctor stepped over to her. 

“You should sit,” he said, voice quiet.

“I’m fine.”

“ _Or_ , just a possibility, not saying for certain,” he said in a slightly agitated whisper, “You’ve recently been injured and may have had a concussion, and then went for a brisk walk right afterwards and are probably overdue for a rest.” 

She glanced between the two men. The Doctor in the chair was sitting up very straight, his head inclined just the slightest bit in their direction.

“Fine,” Rose said, making her way to the chair next to him and sitting down, “but don’t make a habit of ganging up on me, yeah?” 

The Doctor in blue shifted in his chair as she sat, giving her a warm, amused look, before turning back towards the monitors. 

After Airi and Diedru finished telling the tale of how they’d met, and of his species’ history of peaceful relations with foreign worlds, their demeanor grew serious, and each took turns rallying their supporters, urging them not to give up. Then, Airi directed her message at the Capitol itself, and Rose could tell that the message was reaching its finale. 

“This fight is about more than offworlders,” Airi said, her voice steady and sure. “It’s about the corruption of the Capitol and the poverty of the people. It’s time for the military regime to step down. The cities and surrounding villages are aligned in our support, and we are prepared to actively resist Capitol authority. When the regime steps down, we will establish a temporary governing council with elected representatives from each village. Thank you.” 

Airi’s eyes shifted from the camera to the Doctor and with a nod he pressed a button that triggered the end of transmission across all monitors.

As soon as the broadcast was over, Airi let out a huge sigh that bubbled into a laugh and launched herself at Diedru, who gave her a hug. Rose smiled as she watched them. They were proper heroes, in tune with each other and proud of a mission accomplished. It was both familiar and suddenly very, very foreign.

A moment later, Rose was startled out of her reverie by the blue Doctor tapping her on the shoulder. 

“You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah, fine.” 

“Think it’s time we go, hm? We’ve done our part.” 

He extended his hand to her but she smiled tightly and shook her head, pushing out her chair and standing. Airi and Diedru were standing with the Doctor, chatting quietly, and all three looked up as they walked over. 

“Diedru’s offered to let us use his teleport. He’ll get a ride back with Airi,” the Doctor said. “Should just about have the capacity for three people. I’ve given it a little boost with the sonic. All ready?” 

Rose nodded and caught eyes with Airi, who smiled and opened her arms for a hug. Rose stepped in and they squeezed each other tight. 

“Good luck with everything,” Rose said when she broke away. “Wish we could do more.” 

“You have no idea how much you’ve done already,” Airi said. “Good luck to you too. It was a pleasure to meet three more peaceful offworlders.”

Airi grabbed Diedru’s hand and, with a final wave from both of them, she tapped the small device on her belt. There was a gust of wind and then they were gone.

The Doctors stepped closer to her until one was on each side. 

“It might feel a bit worse than normal. Three’s sort of a heavy load,” the Doctor in blue said.

The other Doctor stuck his hand out and she grabbed it with her left, then took the part-human Doctor’s with her right. She had just enough time to notice that one hand was a bit warmer when she was pulled into the familiar, nauseating jerk. She managed to keep hold of both men, terrified that if she let go of one, they might all become separated. When they landed, she stumbled, and the Doctors acted in tandem to keep her upright by bracing her with their grips. 

They were right outside the TARDIS. 

Around them, people were running, voices were yelling out orders from all sides, and there was smoke coming from the Ahian skyline. The Doctor in brown released her hand, turning to the TARDIS door and pulling out his key while the Doctor in blue kept his eyes trained on their surroundings. The door was open a second later and he stood next to it, watching Rose. 

“They’ll be okay, right?” she asked, hesitating, her eyes on the crowds of people running towards and away from the Capitol. 

“Traemaria becomes a beacon of interplanetary relations,” the Doctor in brown said. 

“No. I mean Airi and Diedru.”

There was a second of silence, and the Doctor behind her spoke. “We don’t know.”

“Right,” Rose said, and she turned and walked into the TARDIS. 

\--

After the Doctors had dematerialised the TARDIS from Traemaria, Rose excused herself to use the toilet, shower, and change her clothes. She was knackered, but she also hadn’t eaten anything since the doughnuts, which seemed like ages ago. She felt exhausted, emotionally and physically drained. Confused. And more than a bit thirsty. 

Finding her way towards the kitchen in loose pyjama bottoms and a vest top, Rose wasn’t terribly surprised to find the part-human Doctor waiting for her in the galley. He looked freshly showered, as well, with damp hair and a clean new suit, and without any of the scuff marks she’d seen earlier. He was seated at the table and when she walked in, he stood. 

“Hello,” he said. 

“Hey. Where’s…?”

“He’s fixing the time phase oscillator.”

“Oh, so he got the traemarium, then?” 

“Yep. Before we got, er, imprisoned.”

Rose scrunched up her nose. “But we had no money.”

The Doctor shrugged. “Didn’t stop us, did it?” 

She chuckled, shrugging, and moved towards the refrigerator, pulling out some bread and cheese and a carton of juice. She poured herself a glass and made a quick cheese sandwich, taking a bite with the fridge still open. She could feel him hovering from across the room, feel his eyes on the back of her head like sun on a warm day. But he was quiet. She waited to turn around until she’d finished her sandwich and drunk the last of her juice.

He was standing closer than she expected, only a few steps away. His eyes were wide, his brows knitted upward, and his mouth was parted, as though he was trying to decide what to say next. 

“Rose…”

Back on the TARDIS with another Doctor a few rooms away, it was like someone turning on the lights in the middle of the night: everything was too bright for her to see.

“I’m sorry. I can’t.” Staring at the floor in front of her, Rose fled the room.


	6. Chapter 6

Rose’s cheeks were burning, her hands clammy, her stomach in knots, by the time she got to her room and sat down on her bed. 

She’d kissed the Doctor. A… Doctor. And he wanted to talk about it. She stood, paced the length of her room several times, and then stepped into her en suite, splashing her flushed face with cool water and blotting her skin dry. 

She should go back out there. She should. 

Forcing herself to move, she walked to her door. Stopped. Walked back to her bed. The thought of seeing his confused face, trying to figure out what to say… And what was _he_ about to say, before, exactly? It seemed too dangerous to find out. 

She shook her head. 

With a sigh of defeat, she collapsed onto her bed, curling onto her side and not bothering to grab the duvet where it lay at her feet. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to fall asleep. 

\--

Every time she closed her eyes she saw the dead Maglathians and the Doctors’ concerned faces. She tossed and turned, kicked at the duvet, and eventually her restless thoughts merged into dreams of dead Doctors, to a hundred different dimensions with sulfur skies going dark, and no one to save the multitudes crying out. 

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed when she found herself wide awake in her dark room. Her eyes adjusted to the dim light provided by the strip under her door and she alternated between looking at the plain ceiling and and the dark shapes of her vanity and chest on far wall of her room. The humming of the TARDIS, the feel of the feathery soft mattress under her, the small, windowless room, were all stifling. The peace of the room was mocking her. 

Sluggish, she pulled herself upright and placed her feet on the floor. Her body ached, her feet especially, so she found her way into some old, comfortable slippers. She padded out of her room and down the corridor, pointedly avoiding the galley as she passed it, even though she doubted that the Doctor would be up so late, relatively speaking. 

Without paying much attention to where she was going, she found herself in the console room. It was chilly and empty and so, so quiet, but the feel of it was soothing, expansive, not like the small, dark bedroom had been. One grated panel near the side of the room was still propped open, but there were no tools around, no half-drunk cups of tea or sandwich crusts on discarded plates. 

Rose made her way to the jump seat and sat down, toeing off her slippers, turning to the side and pulling her knees to her chest. She crossed her arms over them and rested her head on top, watching the time rotor bathe the room in gentle green light. After a few minutes, she felt her breathing slow..

She was half-asleep when she heard footsteps sounding down the corridor, and looked up in time to see the Doctor - the one in brown - entering the console room. Her stomach flipped and she averted her eyes as his widened almost imperceptibly. 

“Hello,” he said, crossing the room and heading towards the open panel of grating. 

“Hello. Couldn’t sleep, sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” he said, plopping down on the floor and dangling his legs into the open section. “Don’t mind me.”

She let out a huff of breath through her nose, looking up at the rounded ceiling when she felt his eyes on her face. He pulled the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and set it buzzing, leaning into the opening in the paneling and squinting. He held the sonic up to his ear, after, and frowned. 

“Need any help?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Just going to take a few readings of the time phase oscillator every couple of hours, make sure the repairs have taken.”

The room grew silent and Rose struggled for something to say. “How’d you buy the traemarium?” 

“Oh.” He glanced at her, then ducked his head again, staring down into the space left by the open panel. “I saw we were in the wrong time as soon as I got to Nri. Everyone was humanoid: dead giveaway. So I teleported back to the TARDIS coordinates from one of the public stalls and fished around till I found some stuff to barter, and then I walked back and made a few trades... Easy. Plus, on the bright side, traemarium cost peanuts before they started exporting it.” 

“So you knew right away, then.” 

He pursed his lips. “I didn’t know how bad things were there. Didn’t think their xenophobia would affect you. If I did… Well.” 

“The - other Doctor. He didn’t realise right away. He made me turn off my walkie-talkie, when he did.” She looked up at him. “Looked just like the one that Airi had. Think that’s why Shaw was so sure I was lying.” 

“What did he do? Shaw,” he asked, fixating on the sonic in that way that meant his attention was solely on her. 

“He killed the Maglathians. I’m sure you heard. And then he took me and the other Doctor to separate interrogation rooms, and questioned us, and when the protests started, he put us in the execution room. And then you showed up.”

“Rose.” 

“Look, it wasn’t a big deal.” 

“Not a big deal?” His voice climbed an octave. “Right. Well, it was certainly a big _bruise_.” 

“He hit me, once. He also stunned me and knocked me out. And I’m fine, now. Not a scratch on me.” 

The Doctor huffed. 

“I’ve been through worse.”

“That’s not actually making me feel better.” 

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, I’m sorry. I just meant… I’m fine.” 

He made a disapproving sound in the back of his throat. 

“So when did you realise that we’d been…” 

He rubbed a hand across his face, eyes darting away from her. “Right away, I suspect. I could feel something was wrong.” 

“What’s that like, exactly…? He said it was like an itch, or something, at the back of his mind.” 

“I don’t know that there’s a better way to describe it, to a non-telepath.” 

“Oh. And how’d you find Airi?”

A smile curled at the edge of his lips. “Oh, that part was easy. After the way you saved the Maglathians… There were protests in the street, already. I just chatted a few of the rebels up, asked around about who their leader was. They introduced me right away. Suppose it helped that I looked just like the bloke who’d saved the aliens. Didn’t take long to figure out that Airi and I both needed to get to the Capitol.” He looked away again, and continued with barely a pause. “Why couldn’t you sleep?”

She sighed. “Dunno. Just couldn’t. I tried for ages. Slept a little. Then I just wanted to be out of my room.” 

“I have some tea that could help.” He glanced up at her, face hesitant. “Non-narcotic. Herbal, from 62nd century New Franconia. If you like.” 

“No, s’alright, thanks. Just a stressful day. It’s hard to turn it off sometimes.” She tapped her temple.

He laughed, shaking his head. 

“Suppose you know what that’s like.”

“A bit.” 

He caught her eye and they smiled at each other from across the room. For a second, it felt normal, but then her smile faltered, and he looked away.

“The other me is sleeping. Seems to do that a lot. Well. Compared to a Time Lord.” Silence dragged on between them and he raised his eyebrows, shrugging, as though he was groping for something else to say. “Anyway, I’ve been put out. Homeless. Roomless, at any rate. Then again, it seemed rude, to have him make himself a new room, when I practically never…” 

She swallowed, shifting on the jump seat, heat prickling across her skin.

“And it’s one thing to be rude, but quite another to be rude to oneself. Though… I suppose I do have a history of that. Occasionally.” 

She forced a chuckle that faded too quickly. He went back to scrutinising the sonic and she shifted in her seat until her legs hung over the floor.

“Look-- I’m sorry.” She bit her lip as soon as the words left her and he glanced up at her, eyes sharp. She pressed on before she could stop herself. “You had to have… Seen. You had to. It wasn’t… I wasn’t… thinking.” 

“Rose--”

“And I’m not gonna choose, okay? I know you’ve been keeping your distance. I can tell. And… I don’t want you to think that’s what you should be doing. Keeping your distance. Making me.. Making it so I…” She stopped. “I’m not picking between you.”

“Maybe you should.” His voice was so soft she could barely make out the words, and he looked past her, behind her, as though he were trying to meet her eye, but couldn’t quite do it.

“What?” 

He said nothing.

“Doctor, if you have something to say, then say it.” 

“I don’t.” He scooted back, then stood, plopping the panel back into place with a loud ‘twang’. “You should go back to bed. You sure you don’t want that tea?”

“Doctor--” She untangled herself, groping with her feet for her slippers as he walked towards the corridor. “Wait!” 

He stopped, back to her, shoulders tense. She got her slippers on at last and rushed over to him, moving to stand in front of him, to block his exit. 

He looked down at the grating. “What is it.”

“You can’t just -- act all weird, and avoid me, and run off the second we land, and tell me ‘maybe I should’ and then… swan off, again, now. You think I can’t tell that you want me to be with the other you? That you think that’s what’s best for me?” She narrowed her eyes. “You were so happy, before, when I came back. And… Now look at you. You can hardly stand to be in the same room with me.” 

“That’s not--”

“It’s true. Don’t say it’s not. You’re never around, and when you are you’re being weird. Just… stop it. I’m not gonna choose. So stop acting like you’re expecting me to.” 

He clenched his fists at his sides, and the anger that had fueled her outburst settled, leaving her feeling sad, instead. 

“So I’m sorry. About before.” 

He met her eyes, brow furrowing as he took in her expression. “Really, Rose. You have nothing to be sorry about.” 

“Right. Good. So then you can stop avoiding me. Because I’m not choosing. I’m not.” She pressed her lips together, then let out a heavy breath through her nose. 

He nodded, jaw clenched, and made to move away. She caught his upper arm, fingers closing tight enough to alert him, but not to stop him from moving, not really. He looked down, and there was something helpless in his face, in the way his eyes were wide, his mouth tight. But as soon as their gazes met, his shuttered, and he took her hand with his free one, disentangling it from his arm and gently dropping at at her side. 

“Doctor,” Rose said, “I just want things to be … normal. With you and me.” 

He was quiet for a long moment. Her heartbeat felt too fast, too hard. She reached towards him again, then stopped herself.

“Doctor?” 

“Everything’s fine, Rose.” He looked at her with blank eyes, a small, strained smile on his face. “Get some rest, all right?” 

Her face fell as he turned and walked away.

\--

She wound up in the media room, sprawled out on the plush, comfortable sofa with a throw blanket over her and a cushion beneath her cheek. Something about going back to her room didn’t feel right, not after spending so much time restless in that bed. She managed a couple more hours of unsatisfying sleep, drifting in and out to alien infomercials, before she gave up and fetched herself some tea and toast. 

The TARDIS was quiet, and it reminded Rose of her early days with her first Doctor, before it was a given that they’d spend her waking moments together. The Time Lord Doctor, wherever he’d fled to, was no longer in the console room. And the other Doctor was, for once, not waiting for her in the galley. She ate and drank in silence, scraping the burnt bits off of her toast with a butter knife and dumping her mug in the sink when she was down to the dregs. 

After, she took her time walking back, half-hoping and half-dreading that she’d hear one of the Doctors. When she got back to the media room, she sat on the sofa, her back to the armrest and her legs stretched out in front of her, switching between channels until she found a film with a few familiar faces. 

She was halfway through the sequel, and fully horizontal on the sofa, when she heard a quiet knocking on the door. Her stomach flipped and she sat up, adjusting the throw blanket on her lap, and called out a hasty “come in,” holding her breath as she waited to see who it was.

“Hey,” said the Doctor, opening the door just enough for her to see his head and his blue lapels. “Mind if I come in?” 

“Sure.” She offered a weak smile, sitting up straighter as he stepped inside and shut the door behind him. 

He stood in front of her, blocking the telly, and stuck a hand into his hair almost immediately, looking up at the ceiling, then back down at her. 

“Doctor--?” 

He paced from one end of the room to the other, posture stiff, until he looked in her direction and blurted, “I’m sorry.”

She laughed, and he narrowed his eyes at her, so she shook her head, smiling. “No - no, sorry. Not laughing at you. It’s-- something, um, else. But… Don’t be sorry. I shouldn’t have run away. I felt like a total arse about thirty seconds later.”

“I shouldn’t have pressed.” He paced up and down again, then stopped in front of her and scrunched his nose. “Mind if I sit?” 

She couldn’t stop the smile spreading across her face, the way her heart sped up a little bit. “‘Course not.”

He sighed, looking relieved, and sat a good foot away from her on the sofa, angling his legs towards her and meeting her eye with his sure gaze. She looked at the space between them, and frowned, angling her knees in his direction. He didn’t seem to notice.

“I kept saying that I know this is confusing for you.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, naturally, the first thing I do is make a mess of everything. Rose, I’m so sorry for that.” 

“You didn’t. Really.” She shifted again, facing him fully. “I was… I just wasn’t ready. To talk about it last night. Wasn’t expecting that you’d--”

“What?” 

“Want to. Talk about it.” 

“Not normally my strong suit, I suppose.” 

“You think?” 

He laughed and relaxed his posture, leaning into the cushion behind him. They idly watched the screen for a moment, but Rose wasn’t paying any attention to what was happening in the film. She could feel the way he was leaning closer to her, the way he was positioned so he could see her out of the corner of his eye, the way she could see him too. The atmosphere in the room gradually calmed, and for the first time since she’d fled the galley the night before, the edge of anxiety low in her stomach began to dissipate. 

She hazarded a glance in his direction and found him watching her already. 

“I am sorry, though,” he said, voice quiet. “I shouldn’t have rushed things. Not - not that there’s a thing to rush. There’s only a thing… if you -- if you want a-- thing.” He frowned. “And now I’m absolutely going to stop saying ‘thing.’”

“Doctor. It’s really okay.”

“I don’t want you to feel like you’re -- like you need to make a choice. We don’t have to rush anything. Or change anything at all, even.”

She tilted her head, watching him. “Did you…”

“What?”

“Nothing. Just…” She bit her lip. “Thanks. I appreciate it.” 

He breathed out into a big smile and she matched it with her own. Eyeing the space between them, she shifted closer and, before she could talk herself out of it, put her head on his shoulder. He adjusted his position, looking down at her face, and when he wrapped his arm around her, she sighed and moved with him to lean her head on the hollow of his shoulder. She tucked her legs under her and, instead of watching the telly, let her eyes slip shut. 

“Anything good?” he asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. 

“Hm?” She lifted her head, opening her eyes, and met his gaze. “Nah, it’s rubbish. Change it if you want.” 

“Did you sleep last night?” he asked, studying her face.

“Barely.” 

“So rest.” 

She looked up at him through her eyelashes, and gave him a small smile before letting her head drop back down and her eyes fall shut again. He began rubbing up and down her arm, his fingers sending delicious waves of sensation through her scalp and down into her spine, and she felt herself start to drift off. 

\--

When she woke, her neck was stiff and her legs were entirely too warm, but waking up cuddled against the Doctor was, by far, the most peaceful way she could remember rousing in a very long time. 

The first thing she saw as she opened her eyes was his face. His head was turned towards her, chin tucked near his clavicle, and his eyes were trained to hers, a small, tender smile on his face. She couldn’t hear the television anymore. The air was still, as though the calm she felt was spreading into the room around her. She licked her lips and swallowed, watching as his eyes darted down to her mouth. 

“Hello,” he said, voice quiet and scratchy. “Sleep well?” 

His face was so close to hers that she’d barely have to crane her neck to kiss him. She leaned in, and she could smell his breath, sweet and minty, with just a trace of tea. She could feel the warmth of it against her lips, and she remembered the soft, sweet feel of his mouth against hers. She wanted to let her eyes drift closed. She could see that his were drooping, like he was very relaxed, only his cheeks were tinged pink. The temptation to shut her eyes and press her lips to his was almost unbearable. 

Instead, she inhaled, bracing herself, and sat up. He cleared his throat and she turned away, stretching her arms high above her head. Her back cracked, and she stood, taking several deep breaths. When she turned back to him, he was watching her, eyes careful. 

“I--” Rose said.

“What?” 

“I think I might…” She stopped and brought a hand up to chew on her thumbnail. 

“You might what?” He watched her closely, face growing concerned. 

“I need to talk to someone,” she said, and the truth of it hit her as it poured out. “Someone who’s not… you. Either you.”

His mouth twitched, eyes lighting up. “Brilliant.”

“Excuse me?” 

“Rose Tyler, you are brilliant. Of course you should talk to someone.” 

“Yeah?” She looked down. “You’re not… cross? Or hurt?”

“No. Rose, you’ve been amazing. Absolutely brilliant. And you should absolutely have someone to talk to who’s not… Well. The Doctor.” 

He stood too, stretching his arms high and facing the telly. When he faced her again, it was after a deep exhale, and his cheeks still looked just a touch pink. 

“So,” he said. “Did you have someone in mind?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betas: fadewithfury and rointheta. thank you fadewithfury for coming up with the amazing nicknames :D

“Vodka and soda with a twist. Two, please,” Jack said, giving the bartender a wink.

“Liquor? Oi, Jack, it’s barely afternoon,” Rose said.

“I can tell you need it. And I’m paying, so no complaints.” 

A few seconds later, the bartender handed over their drinks and Jack grabbed them, moving through the dark, empty pub towards a booth along the wall. He stood aside, letting her choose her seat, and placed their drinks on the table. Then, he took off his greatcoat, hanging it from a hook on the booth and exposing his oxford and braces. She looked him up and down, more for him than for her, and he caught her eye and smirked. 

“Missed you checking me out.” 

She bit back a smile as he took his seat. He shifted into the corner of the booth, laying one arm over the back, the other moving towards his drink.

He watched her for a second, but it was somehow diagnostic, not the playful leer she thought of during the long years she’d missed him. 

“What?” 

“How long’s it been for you? Since I got dropped off?”

“Oh. Only a few days. You?” 

“Same. Team’s on holiday. They’ve earned it. But it’s been dull. Feels like longer.” He took a swig of his vodka and picked up the cloudy-looking salt shaker, shaking some salt onto his napkin and putting the drink down on top of it. “Stops it from sticking to the napkin.”

She grabbed hers, taking a sip through the cocktail straw even though it took her a few seconds to fill her mouth. When she put the drink down she found Jack giving her that calculating look again.

“What’s wrong? I have a feeling you’re not here just ‘cause you missed me.” 

“I did, though. A lot.” She looked up at him, and his eyes softened. 

“Ditto. Now spill.” 

She scrunched up her nose. “I dunno where to start.” 

“Okay. So tell me what you’ve been up to since you dropped me off. With two whole Doctors, all to yourself.” 

“Well.” She frowned. “A lot, really. First, he was going to -- Um. The - the Doctor who used to be the--” 

“Which Doctor? Brownie or Blueberry?” 

She gaped at him and burst into laughter while Jack looked on, delighted. After a moment, she grabbed a napkin from the holder and wiped at her eyes, grateful she’d not been drinking when he’d spoken. 

“How long did it take you to think of those?” she asked.

He tilted his head, considering. “A couple of hours. Brown and blue was obvious, but I wanted something with a bit more... pizzazz. I assume I’m right in thinking that they stay in their same colors.” 

“Think so, yeah.” She shook her head, chuckling. “You know they’re both going to hate it.”

“I’m okay with that,” he said, grinning.

“I’ve really missed you.” 

“Damn right.” 

“It was the Doctor in brown.” 

“Right, so _Brownie_ was going to… what?” 

“Leave me in the other universe. Try to bring us all back. Me, mum, and - well, the blue Doctor - to the other universe. But he couldn’t. Because it was all closing up faster than he thought, the walls between them, you know.” 

Jack nodded. 

“But my dad and my brother - I have a baby brother, Tony, he’s called - they managed to get here before the walls closed, and the Doctors set them up in this posh house in the South of France. Then the three of us went off--” 

“Into time and space?” 

She scrunched her nose. “Not so much. We’ve only been to one planet so far since I got back. But that’s not really… It’s like they’re doing some Jekyll-Hyde thing.” 

He furrowed his brow. “They’re not … good twin, evil twin are they?” 

Rose laughed, shaking her head. “No. I didn’t mean that literally. Suppose I should be clearer, the lives we lead. I just mean… The brown one’s trying to push me towards the blue. I can see it, plain as day. So he’s all sulky and distant, and then the blue Doctor’s…” She sighed. “Perfect. Absolutely perfect.”

Jack took another sip of his drink and licked his lips. “I see. So you’re feeling guilty about Brownie because you shagged Blueberry.” 

“I didn’t--”

“Snogged, then.” 

“God.” Rose covered her face with her hand.

“I know. I’m good.” He leaned back with a slight smirk. 

“He saw.” 

“What, was he spying on you two?” 

“No! No. Nothing like that. It was… sort of a…” 

“What?” He leaned forward, and Rose could tell he was enjoying this. A lot.

“Prison cell situation.”

Jack laughed, shaking his head, and he took a sip of his drink. “I see. Tensions running high? Imminent death? Then, what, a passionate embrace, lips pressing, clothes tearing...?” 

“Stop. Stop. You’re like a sodding bodice ripper come to life. Nothing like that. More like, he was being really sweet. And then Brownie-- er-- I mean, _the Doctor in brown_ \-- was there, to rescue us, and he saw. And I tried to apologise, after. And he just… He’s totally shut down. Meanwhile, the Doctor in blue’s ready to snog me again. And he’s just as ready to keep things as they were! All up to me. Couldn’t be more wonderful.”

She took another sip of her drink, thinking. 

“And - I hardly ever see them together. It’s almost like I’m living with one man and half the time I see him he’s in a great mood, and the other half he’s in a shit mood.” 

“That is… Damn,” Jack said, throwing back the rest of his beverage and peering at Rose’s half-full one. “Finish that. I’m getting round two and they’re gonna be doubles.” 

\--

“And… the thing is, it’s both of them, innit?” Rose asked, drinking the last of her double. Her body was buzzing pleasantly, her head a little bit foggy, and she was absolutely sure she loved Jack more than almost anyone she’d ever known. 

“What do you mean?”

“Like, okay, he’s pushing me towards blue-Doctor. And maybe I understand why, even if I think he’s an idiot. But blue-- Blueberry’s just - he’s being so great on purpose, isn’t he? They both know. They have this _telepathic connection_ and, anyway, they’re the same bloke, right? So they both know they want me with Blueberry, and they’re both.. maneuvering me! That’s it. Maneuvering me towards him. S’like manipulation! With one being a right wanker and the other being lovely, and it’s all on _purpose_.” She looked at Jack with wide eyes. “I hadn’t connected it till now. Those bastards.” 

“You’ve definitely got a point. What’s so great about Blueberry that he’s the one they want you with?”

She waved a careless hand. “He’s part-human.”

“ _Oh._ I see. Like Donna.” 

A chill swept up her spine and her stomach flipped. “Donna’s actually… she’s home now. And all human again. Her mind couldn’t sustain the metacrisis.” 

“Oh,” Jack said, face growing concerned. “That does make sense, the storage capacity of a Time Lord mind is just... so far beyond that of a human. But she’s all right?” 

“Yeah. Fine. Living a normal life. But she doesn’t remember, before.” 

“That’s a shame.” 

They were silent for a moment.

“And the part-human Doctor, that won’t happen to him?” Jacked asked, finishing the last of his drink and throwing two fingers up in the air, glancing over at the barkeep.

“No. He’s got a Time Lord brain, part-human physiology. Not really that human, even. He said, like, ten percent.” 

“But a little human. So he’s the one who can, what, give you the white picket fence while Brownie stays stuck on universe-saving duty all by his lonesome?” 

“That’s probably what they have in mind.” She pushed her hair out of her face. “But no thanks. Not interested. The TARDIS life’s the life for me.”

“Well, do they know that you’re not interested?” 

“I’ve said it.” 

“So, not a chance, then.” 

She chuckled, rolling her eyes. “It’s just… what do I care if he’s got one heart instead of two? They’re _both_ the Doctor. I love them both, and they bloody well know it because they were one bloke when I said it to them. How am I supposed to choose between the same man?” 

“Now, I don’t want you accusing me of being a lecherous 51st century deviant… Actually. No. That’s fine. Feel free. But: why choose?” 

Her cheeks felt warm from the alcohol, but heat prickled through her neck and arms as his words sunk in. The bartender dropped off their next round and she picked up her glass without thinking, enjoying the cold against her hands.

“Come again?” 

“Why. Choose. Have both of them.” 

“Well, I mean…” She squinted, bringing her thumb up to her mouth and chewing on her nail. “Of course I’d… I mean...”

“Yeah. You would. And they’re over the moon for you, so you say the word and so would they.” He quirked a brow. “Eventually, I think. So why not?” 

“What, like… A threeway?” She was hit with flashes of two Doctors: one on either side of her, hands on her waist, her hip, her neck, her arm… A pair of lips on hers, and another on her neck. Skin against skin, everywhere. Her breath caught. Naked, there’d be no way to tell them apart, not until she was pressed close enough to hear their hearts. She cleared her throat and took a gulp of her drink. 

“Or two couples,” Jack said, looking up at her with a knowing smile. “Hell, whatever you want. You make the rules. But you’re obviously at some sort of impasse.”

“How do you mean?” She looped her hair behind her ear, focusing hard on Jack to stop her imagination. She found herself wondering whether blueberry brownies would taste any good.

“Well, look at you. You can’t snog Blueberry again while Brownie’s off brooding somewhere. You don’t want to leave the TARDIS. And you damn sure didn’t fight your way across universes just to be sexually frustrated by not one but _two_ men for the rest of your life.”

“I keep telling them I won’t choose. But I didn’t mean--”

“Sweetheart, you probably already had this in mind, coming to talk to me.” He scrutinised her and she felt her cheeks grow warmer. “So tell them.”

“But… he can be so stubborn. Both of them. And the Doctor’n brown’s just… S’like he can barely look at me. Oh my God. What if he’s thinking of leaving us somewhere again?”

Jack shook his head. “He won’t. You look him in the eye and tell him you want to stay, and there’s no way he ever could.”

She sighed, nodding. “Think you might be right about that. He tried to talk me into staying with my family, when they were getting settled in, but I refused, and he gave in.” 

“Exactly.” 

“Still, he’d never go for it.”

“If he knows he _can_ , then maybe sooner or later he will. Right now he probably thinks you and Blueberry will be off making little muffins together someday and he’ll be all alone. That you’re not interested when there’s a newer, shinier version of him nearby. He needs to really understand that you’re not going anywhere.”

“I’m not. Going anywhere.”

“‘Course you’re not.”

She took another large gulp of her drink. “Don’t you think that’s unfair to them, making them share?” 

He scoffed. “Well, apart from them being the same person… Rosie, we humor your 21st century social conventions--” (Rose snorted.) “--because it’s polite. But the Doctor’s not any more bound by them than I am. Polyamory is nothing to bat an eye at in most parts of time and space. Remember that.”

“Yeah, all right. But how do I ask them? I mean. I can barely get the brown one in the same room as me. And it didn’t go very well last time.” 

He shrugged. “Round them up. Tell them how you feel. Then give them some space. Maybe Brownie doesn’t want to open up. Or maybe it’ll take him a while to come around. But if they both know how you feel, then they won’t misconstrue it if you do decide to shag Blueberry.” 

“This is absolutely mad.” 

“It’s not. Really.” He leaned forward. “You’d never leave one Doctor on his own. Right?” 

“Yeah.”

“So tell them that. And, if you so happen to end up with a bed full of naked Doctors, then…” 

She leaned forward, smacking him lightly with the back of her hand, as images flashed in her mind again. 

“...You feel free to give me a call sometime, by the way, if you wanna even out that number.” 

She smirked. “One thing at a time, yeah?” 

“Well, I was saying, at _least_ two. Maybe three.” 

Rose levelled him with a serious look, or tried to. She felt the corner of her mouth twitching.

“Ha. Fine. I’m spoken for anyway.”

She threw back the rest of her drink, putting it down with a little too much force against the table. 

“Another?” Jack asked. 

Rose laughed. “I’m already half-pissed.” 

“I know. And I love it. Hey, remember that time we drank that entire bottle of Beleberry liquor on Belebous 9 and we had to drag you back to the TARDIS because you wouldn’t stop singing old Earth tunes even though it was outlawed?”

“Ugh. I was so sick the next morning.” 

“You almost got us thrown in jail.” 

“Wait. _Old Earth tunes_? I believe what you’re referring to was the Spice Girls.” 

“Yeah, I know that. Now. And what a joy it was to live through the 1990s in Britain.” He sat up straighter, throwing his hands in the air. “ _Colours of the world, spice up your life! Every boy and every girl, spice up your life! People of the world, spice up your life!_ ”

“ _Aaaaah!_ ” they called out simultaneously, and Rose dissolved into a fit of giggles. When she looked up, Jack was regarding her warmly, and she leaned forward, laying her hand over his. 

“Thank you. For listening,” she said. “And for the advice.”

“It’s good to have you back.” He placed his other hand on top of hers. “Really, really good.” 

“It’s good to be back. And my family’s here. And you and Mickey. I never thought it’d turn out that way.” 

“For you? ‘Course we’re all here. The rules of the universe itself bend for Rose Tyler.” 

“Shut up.” Rose smiled, squeezing his hand one last time before releasing it. “All right. You go and get us one more round, and then we’ll catch up properly. Like, your job! Torchwood Three. Can hardly believe it. Do you know I was director of my department at Torchwood One in the other universe?” 

“What division?” 

“Special Projects.”

“No shit! Little Rose Tyler, tinkering in the risky tech. Who’d’ve thought.”

“Tinkering? Think travelling between universes is a bit more than tinkering, thank you.” 

“My apologies, Director Tyler.” He turned down one corner of his mouth, thoughtful look on his face. “That’s kind of sexy: Director Tyler.” 

“Ta. You know, why don’t you get us a basket of chips, too. And some nachos, if they’ve got any.”

He stood, stretching his arms high, and craned his neck to look at the bar, which was crowded with enough people now to prevent the bartender from giving them table service.

“And don’t think I’ve forgot: ‘spoken for’! You’re telling me all about your bloke, Jack!” 

“How do you know he’s a bloke?” he asked, smiling.

“Well, it’s that Welshman, right? The one who helped us tow the Earth back?” She pointed at him, twirling her finger. “I saw the way you were looking at him on that little video screen.” 

“Not bad, Director Tyler.” 

“Ta again. Drinks, Captain?”

He turned around, walking backwards towards the bar, and saluted her. “Yes, ma’am.” 

\--

After their chips, they were ready for another couple of rounds, and it was dark when they left the pub. The TARDIS was parked at the Roald Dahl Plass and was fueling since, as the Doctor said (she couldn’t remember which), they ‘might as well top her off.’ Jack and Rose took their time on the walk back, talking and laughing, which was just as well since Rose was more than a bit sloshed. 

Jack took her hand, spun her under his arm, and caught her with ease when she stumbled. She extended her arm as high as she could and tried to spin him, next, and he just barely made it under their linked arms, smiling widely at her as he did it. 

It was easy, spending time with him, and she felt freer than she had in ages. Maybe since she’d been stranded in the other universe, even. Her eyes landed on the TARDIS, which was just up ahead. The thought of saying goodbye after finally feeling so at ease stung. 

“You should come with us, Jack,” she said, watching him with blurry eyes. “For a little while. It’s been too long since we were all together.” 

He shook his head. “I’ve got my team. Responsibilities. You know how it goes, Director.” 

“We could have you back tomorrow,” Rose said. “Tonight, even. They’re on holiday. Why not you?” 

He took a step forward and pulled her into a hug. She squeezed him tight, closing her eyes, and found herself fighting a tightness in her throat. 

“Because. Now’s not the right time.” He pulled back, grasping her by the shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ve got forever.” 

She nodded, sniffing. “I know. Because of me.” 

“Hey. Stop that. I don’t think I ever properly thanked you for saving my life, hm?” He tilted her chin up. “So thank you. I don’t regret it. You shouldn’t either.” 

“Yeah.” She sniffed again. 

“Besides. You won’t want me on that ship once things get _heated_ between you and the Doctor. Or Doctors.” He winked. “Give it a couple of years on your side, and maybe a few decades on mine, and then ask me again. All right?” 

She nodded, and he pulled away, slinging an arm around her as they closed the distance to the TARDIS. When they reached the door, Rose fumbled in her pocket for the key, finding it after a few seconds. She struggled to unlock the door and Jack laughed, taking it from her. He’d just managed to put it into the lock when the door opened, and the blue Doctor stood there, evaluating them with a small smile on his face. 

“Have fun, you two?” 

“Hello, Blueberry!” Jack said, grinning. “How was your day?” 

“Oh, no, no, no. No. Absolutely not,” the Doctor said, his smile turning sour. 

Rose snickered. The Doctor looked down at her. “Oh, I suppose that’s funny to you.” 

She shrugged. 

“And what’s my counterpart called, then?” 

“Brownie,” Rose said, and the Doctor made a disapproving noise, crossing his arms and glaring at Jack. 

“Fits. Right, Doc?” Jack asked. 

“No. Not at all.”

“Aw, come on. Don’t be a _tart_ Blueberry.” 

Rose snickered again, louder, and covered her mouth when both men glanced her way. 

“Rose Tyler. Are you drunk?” 

“Nooo. No. Definitely not.” He looked at her with eyebrows raised and she withered under his skeptical gaze. “All right. Yes. A bit.” 

“Where is old Brownie, anyway?” Jack asked. 

The Doctor jerked his head in a shrug.

Jack gave Rose a meaningful look that seemed to say _I see what you mean about them_ and Rose smiled in response, squeezing his arm in a goodbye. 

“All right, then,” Jack said aloud. “Give him my best. See you next time, Doctor. Rose.” 

He gave them a terse nod and turned, heading towards the water tower. 

\--

The Doctor walked her back to her room. She had a feeling he wanted another few seconds to evaluate her level of drunkenness which was, at the moment, a pleasant buzz. Not quite at the level of room-spinning, but definitely a bit loose. Her cheeks were still very warm. The Doctor looked amazing in his tight suit and perfect hair and sweet smile, leaning on the door jamb. So she bid him a quick goodnight, avoiding his eyes, well aware that if she chatted with him any longer she’d be likely to snog him again or tell him about her conversation with Jack. 

Inside her room, she quickly stripped down, moving into her en suite and starting the shower. She always felt grotty after a night out at the pub. She filled a cup by the sink with water and located a paracetamol, taking it and drinking the water down. Once the shower stream was warm, she stepped inside, quickly rinsing off and soaping up as her mind began to wander. 

Two Doctors was … well. It didn’t take a 51st century sexual deviant to realise it sounded bloody hot. And the more she considered it, the more it felt _right_ as well. Maybe not a threeway, though the idea of it quickly had heat spreading through her limbs and down into her belly, but… Telling them, once and for all, that she was there for both of them. Period. And whatever they were willing to give her, she’d gladly take.

She had to tell them together. 

Make sure they both understood it at the same time. That way, if the blue Doctor wanted to move forward with her, the other would know that they were on even footing.

The urge to hop out of the shower, march her arse through the TARDIS until she found them both to proposition them then and there was tempting. She felt bold, brazen, a little reckless with the vodka in her system. But she knew, despite the buzzing in her body, that this had to be a serious conversation. She couldn’t let them chalk it up to her inebriation, or Jack’s admittedly-lecherous influence, or anything but her own heart. Because they were both in it. 

After washing her hair, she towelled off, tying it up in a ponytail and donning her jim-jams. She climbed into bed, closing her eyes, and imagined a dozen different versions of what she’d say the next day, her heart pounding in her chest. Her mind was racing, sleep frustratingly elusive even though she normally conked right out after a night of drinking. 

After what felt like at least an hour, she slid her hand into her pyjama bottoms, imagining that scene of two Doctors pressed up against her again and indulging in the heat that spread down into her belly and lower. It didn’t take long to bring herself off, biting back the Doctor’s name, her breath catching. Then, her heart and breathing slowed, her muscles releasing their tension, and she drifted to sleep. 

\--

The next morning, Rose woke with _the talk_ at the front of her mind before she’d even opened her eyes. There was no choice but to do it today. As soon as possible. Because it was impossible to focus on anything else. 

She forced herself to slow down getting ready, fixing her hair, putting on her makeup, and pulling on a pair of jeans and a fitted pink t-shirt. She checked her appearance and, satisfied, made her way to the galley for a quick bite. 

The Doctor in blue was waiting for her there, as usual, and though he offered her an omelette, she shook her head, grabbing a banana and eating it quickly. He shrugged, taking one too, and they sat across from each other at the table. He snuck glances at her every few seconds and she tried to neutralise her posture which she could feel was a bit tense. 

“Everything all right?” he asked. 

“Yeah.” She nodded, standing and tossing her banana peel into the bin by the sink. “Console room?”

He stood, too, and tossed his peel from a few steps away, shooting her an eager grin when he made it into the bin. It faded as he caught her nervous expression and she attempted a smile, heading out of the galley and towards the console room.

When they arrived, the Doctor in brown was already there, studying a section of the console, leaning over it at a severe angle with his specs on. Rose walked in first, moving to a section of handrail and grabbing it with nervous fingers. The Doctor in brown looked up and, eyes flitting between her and his counterpart, took his glasses off, his expression growing serious. 

“Everything all right?” he asked. 

“Um.” Rose swallowed. “I have something I need to say to you both.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betas: rointheta and crazygirlne (thank you to fadewithfury for your hard work on this story and thank you to crazygirlne for stepping in halfway through. :D)

“I think…” She cleared her throat, swallowed, and forced herself to say it in no uncertain terms. “I'm not going to choose.”

She tried to tame her features into something serious, something that hid her fear. Releasing the handrail from her vice-like grip, Rose took another step into the room and stood with her arms at her side.

“I’ve already said it, but I don’t think you’re hearing me. You're both the Doctor. I told you - on that beach, I told you--” She pushed the words out, her mouth going dry. “I love you. And I do. Both of you. I know you care about me. And I'm - I could never be happy with one of you. Not when there’s another Doctor out there without me. So, I want you both."

She looked from one Doctor to the other and they stared back at her, but for once their expressions weren’t the same. The Doctor in blue looked surprised, but contemplative, his face neutral except for his slightly narrowed, analytical eyes. The Doctor in brown looked surprised, too, but his expression was tinged with disappointment and pain, set in a furrowed brow, wide eyes, and parted mouth. 

The seconds stretched on, the pounding of her heart time’s only delineation as they all stood unmoving. She could feel prickling through her shoulders and legs as adrenaline spiked through her, and she wondered if it was possible that this pause in conversation was normal, that it hadn’t been going on much too long. Finally, the Doctor in brown broke their silence.

“Rose... That's not--you shouldn't have to--” He sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Did Jack convince you of this?” 

Rose took a breath, forcing her voice to stay calm. “No. Jack didn't convince me. It's what I wanted. What I didn’t know how to--” She stopped herself, chewed on her lip as she gathered her thoughts, fearing that if she said the wrong thing he'd shut down completely. “I _love_ you, all right? I want to spend my life with you. Plural. Not in some house with a white picket fence. Here. On the TARDIS. Travelling and saving worlds, as long as you’ll have me.” 

The Doctor in blue smiled, gaze softening, but the one in brown only looked more grave. 

After another brutal few seconds of silence, Rose smiled weakly, brushing her hair out of her eyes and glancing up at the pair, head ducked. “Look at it this way, then. How could I choose between you when you're the same?"

The Doctor in brown looked over at his counterpart, then back at Rose. He made direct eye contact for the first time since she’d started this, his mouth set in a determined line. 

“We're not.”

“Yeah, all right,” Rose said, nodding. “So he's got one heart, and you sleep less than he does. You know that's not what I meant.”

The two Doctors shared a fleeting look filled with knowledge and guilt. 

“What?” Rose asked.

“There was one thing I left out.” The Doctor in blue cleared his throat. “One or two.” 

“Left out?” 

“When we, er, discussed the changes the metacrisis brought about.” 

Dread and doubt hit low in her stomach, spreading outward like nausea. She wondered what he’d left out that could be big enough, awful enough that they thought it could change her mind. Unbidden, Donna came to mind. Rose struggled to keep her face neutral, her breathing slow. “What did you leave out?” 

“Er… Regenerations, for one thing. I haven’t got any. That, and…” He fidgeted, sticking a hand into his pocket. “My lifespan. I’ll age. I’ll grow old.” 

“Oh,” Rose said through a deep breath. Her stomach flipped in relief, normal sensation returning, but then it flipped again as she thought of the Doctor’s dishonesty that first morning together. 

“‘ _Oh?_ ’ But don't you see what that means?” The Doctor in brown asked, his voice frustrated, imploring. “He's only got one life, and he can spend it with you. Live it, day after day. That’s something I can never--” He broke off, looking at his counterpart with an urgency that seemed to say _you tell her_. 

“Yeah, well. I don't care,” Rose said, her tone clipped, but then she looked over at the Doctor in blue. “I mean-- I care. Of course I care. I just mean it doesn't change anything. My one life, day to day, and all that? It's going to be here. On the TARDIS. As long as you let me stay, this is where I’ll be. And it’s not just because I told you once I'd never leave you - which applies to both of you, so we’re clear. It’s because that’s what I _want_ my life to be. I’ve been to enough worlds, seen enough, to know…” She nodded, reassuring herself that this was still right. “I want my life to be here, with you both.”

“Rose…” The Doctor in brown took a step closer, then stopped himself, closing his eyes tightly, taking a deep breath, and jamming his hands in his pockets before opening them again. “You say that now, but don’t you see that you’d be _better off_ with just him? You’re in danger... _all_ the time. You’re never going to have a life with your family, with a family of your own. The life you deserve.” 

“No. That’s bollocks,” Rose said, shaking her head. “I’ll never be happy living that life, you hear me? I spent years away from the TARDIS and I never stopped missing her hum, or missing looking up at new skies with you and saving the day. What I deserve is what’ll make me happy, yeah? And I know what that is. I know what I want my life to be.” 

As she looked at the Doctor in brown, her heart wrenched; his face was a picture of desperation, his body closed off and tense. 

“I’m sorry if that’s not what you want to hear. If that’s not what you want for me. But I know who I am.” Her mouth quirked in an ironic smile. “I’m a defender of universes. Taught by the best.” 

The Doctor in blue smiled back at her even as his twin leaned back against the console, avoiding her eyes and sticking a hand into his hair. 

Rose took a step closer to them. “But.. I just… I thought I should say it. Officially, that sort of thing. You both know how I feel. And I feel that way about both of you. And… we can move forward. Be together. Or we can keep things as they were, when we used to travel together. Whatever you want. But I don’t want things to be weird between us anymore. I don’t want to feel like I’m expected to run off with one of you and leave the other behind. It’s not happening. I won’t ever leave, not unless you tell me to. Just… if you want, the door is open, to both of you. Either of you. Whenever, all right? Or not.” She stopped, her cheeks burning. “Oh, and... You don’t have to decide now. You don’t have to say anything at all.”

The Doctor in blue nodded at her and the one in brown spared a look in her direction, though his dimple was showing, his face deadly serious.

“I’m gonna…” She swallowed, pursing her lips. “I’m gonna go. Watch a film or something. Give you some time to think.” 

With one last glance, she turned around and left the console room, her head held high, though her hands were shaking.

\--

She settled, in the end, on reality television. Forty-fifth century, ish. Sort of like Britain’s Got Talent, only with gaseous psychic entities that manifested for the reptilian judges in patterns and colours, like a live watercolour demonstration, or a light show. 

Rose sat curled up, feet tucked under her, a throw blanket settled over her lap. She folded her arms, watching the programme halfheartedly. At least the colours were pretty when her eyes inevitably glazed over, her heart pounding hard as she wondered what the Doctors were doing. Were they talking about her declaration? Were they by themselves, thinking? Were they going to come talk to her? Should she go find them?

And that lifespan thing was more upsetting, the more she thought of it. That was so like him, wasn’t it? Always hiding things, always pushing her this way and that, even when he was trying to pull her in.

She wasn’t all that surprised when there was a quiet knock on the door less than an hour after she’d left. Nor was she surprised to find it was the Doctor in blue, looking sheepish, and carrying two steaming cups of tea, one of which he had to hold between his elbow and his side to shut the door behind him. 

He moved over to where Rose sat and placed the cups on the table in front of the sofa, sitting down next to her, close enough to reach out and touch her, but not nearly as close as they’d been the last time they’d sat together. 

“Hey,” Rose said, but her voice was hoarse. She cleared her throat, then tried again. “Hey. Thanks for the cuppa.” 

“Yeah.” He pointed his knees towards her, watching her with careful eyes. “Rose…” 

She looked up at him. “You should’ve told me.” 

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you, though?” 

“Yes.” 

“Or was this your secret weapon? Both of you. Ready to spring that on me when I’d made up my mind not to go.” 

“No -- Rose. No. Quite the opposite.” 

“Is it? Because from where I’m sitting, you two don’t even need to talk about it, to decide these things. He’d know you didn’t tell me because he wouldn’t tell me, and then you know he knows, too. Both of you keep quiet. Makes sense, right? Then you tell me only when you’re both making some last ditch effort to shove me and you into a nice, quiet life in the house next door to mum’s.” She shook her head. “As if you’d even want that. You’d go mad.” 

“I don’t. Want that. Wouldn’t mind it, necessarily. But no, that’s not what I’d choose.” 

She looked up at him, hands clenching in the throw blanket. 

“I-- I wasn’t trying to hold some secret weapon to get you to pick me. And I really don’t want to live next door to your mum.” He smiled weakly, but it turned into a tense look as he clenched his jaw and looked away, breathing out in a huff. “It was a few things. I was coming to terms with it myself, for one. I was -- I am, the other me, still, potentially immortal. Theoretically. We’re nearly a millenium old. Could be more, who knows? I’m rubbish at keeping track.” He scrunched his nose. “Oh, I like to make myself sound young, keeping it in the triple digits. But I don’t know. Not really. And now I’ve got a human lifespan. No regenerations. Not the easiest thing to admit to myself, let alone someone else. Even you.” 

She let out a breath, a sinking feeling in her chest. “I didn’t--” 

“But it’s not just that, either. I was trying _not_ to motivate you one way or another. Not to force your hand. I told you I didn’t expect you to choose, Rose, and I meant it. You’re obviously entirely too clever. Took you about a minute to realize that he’s pushing you towards me. And I would too, if I were him. But I’m not him. Not anymore. I didn’t want that to influence you. Not if this life is what you want.” He managed a weak smile. “Plus, even if you chose, I wouldn’t want you choosing me because you can die with me.”

“Sounds kind of morbid, put like that,” Rose said, and he chuckled. “I--I just… Thought there weren’t any real differences, except for the heart thing. You said ten percent human.” 

He tilted his head back and forth, thinking. “Well… So much of Time Lord DNA is devoted to time sense, telepathy... Not to mention the overwhelming majority devoted to pure cognitive power.” 

Rose raised an eyebrow. “Is that supposed to be an explanation? Because it sounds like bragging.” 

“Oh, it’s both. Basically, what I’m saying is that the lifespan is the first thing to go. Not all Gallifreyans can regenerate. Without that, and without my binary vascular system and other redundancy systems and failsafe physiological perks, my lifespan’s going to be like a human’s. A long-lived one, but…” He looked up at the ceiling, the corners of his mouth turning down. “One human life. That’s all I’ve got.” 

“So you weren’t lying. You’re not ... seventy five percent human or something.” 

“No. I still give it around ten percent. But, without the regenerations, I’m human-Gallifreyan, really. And the differences between the two are minor, when you get down to it.” 

She adjusted her position, legs planting on the floor, body angled towards him. Her heart sped up and she could feel the blood pulsing in her ears as she took another sip of her tea. She looked down into it as she asked, “And what about what I said, before?” 

He took a sip of his tea, too, and it was entirely too nonchalant. “Oh. Fine.” 

“Fine?”

“Yeah, fine.”

“That’s it?” 

“What?” 

“ _Fine_?” 

“Well, it is, it’s fine.”

“I need more than that, Doctor. You realise ‘fine’ is what people say when they’re in a snit.”

“Oh, er. No. Not like that.”

“You’re not in a snit?” 

“Not. No. Snit-free, that’s me.” 

“So you’re saying you’re actually…”

“Fine, with you staying here. With me. Well, me’s. And… moving forward. With us. Each.” 

“Right. Okay.” She took a long gulp of her tea. “That’s… Good.” 

“Is it ‘fine?’” 

She slapped his arm. “Shut up.” 

He turned towards her fully, finding her free hand and gripping it gently. She looked up at him, anxious energy making her fingers twitch, but when she saw his soft smile she felt herself calm. 

“Rose, I’ve been everywhere. Seen everything. And, really, metacritical anomalies aside, the three of us wouldn’t be the weirdest arrangement I’ve seen even in the last fortnight.” 

She bit her lip. “Well. Just because it’s not the weirdest doesn’t mean it’s what you want.” 

“I want you to be happy,” he said, squeezing her hand. “I’m not saying I’m naturally prone to sharing. But it’s a bit different when we’re both me. And, it’s like you said. You couldn’t be happy, if there were a Doctor out there sad without you. You have no idea what it means to me, that you care so much you want all of me.” 

Rose felt her eyes start to sting and she put the cup on the table, then grabbed his and placed it next to hers. She felt his eyes on her, expression questioning, but before she could speak, she threw herself at him, her arms looping around his neck as she pulled him tight. She buried her face in his neck and kept it there until her eyes didn’t feel so watery. He hugged her close, and she felt a sigh go through him. They stayed that way, each half-twisted on the sofa, squeezing each other tightly for a long moment.

“Thanks,” she said when she pulled away.

He kept his arms looped lightly around her waist, hands settling on her sides. She could feel his fingers over the bare patch of skin exposed between her t-shirt and jeans. She pulled back a little farther and he was in front of her, very close, his dark eyes fixated on her mouth. She licked her lips reflexively, and he let out a huff of breath, which she felt puff against her face. 

“Just wondering,” he said, voice very soft. “Merely a curiosity, really, but, I did want to ask: does this mean I can kiss you again now?” 

“I’m not sure,” she said. 

“Right.” 

“I haven’t exactly figured it all out.” She could see every freckle along the bridge of his nose and his cheeks, every crinkle framing his eyes. He stroked the space between her shirt and her jeans in patterns that tickled even as they set her skin alight.

“Shall we try it? See what happens?” 

She nodded, leaned in, and pressed her lips to his, threading one hand through his hair and gripping his shoulder with the other. He responded enthusiastically, pulling her closer, shifting on the sofa, and sucking her bottom lip between his. She let herself get lost in the kiss, in the feel of his soft hair on the nape of his neck beneath her fingers, his torso pressed against hers. When he opened his mouth, she slipped her tongue along the inside of his lip, exploring. He tasted like mint and green tea with honey. He moved again, like he couldn’t get close enough to her, and tugged at her waist. Her mind was hazy, focussed only on the feel of soft skin and warm fabric pressed against her, but when he tugged again she realised he wanted her to climb onto his lap. It sent a shock through her, the thought of straddling him, and she felt heat spark low in her belly. But as soon as she let herself think, she broke away with a gasp. 

“Your-- um. Connection.” 

“What?” He looked confused and utterly undone, with pink-tinged cheeks and hair ruffled in every direction. 

“With-- with, you know, the other you. Your telepathic thing. Can he-- right now, does he--” 

“Oh. _Oh._ ” His fingers twitched against her waist. “No. No, we’ve blocked it. Both of us, while we’re in the TARDIS. We’ve shut it off.” 

“Because of me?” 

“No,” he said, but he looked away, eyes finding the television. 

“Doctor.” 

“Not _just_ because of you. It’s also because we annoy one another.” 

She snorted, untangling herself from him and moving to sit next to him again. His hands stayed planted on her waist until she dragged herself away, and he let out a reluctant sigh, running one hand through his disheveled hair.

“What is it?” he asked. 

“I dunno.” She shrugged, watching the television sightlessly. 

“Do you want to wait? I was under the impression that it was either of us. Whenever. That sort of thing. But if that’s not what you want… I wasn’t trying to rush.”

“Just seems unfair. We’ve got a headstart.” 

“Only a little,” he said, petulant.

“And he’s off somewhere blocking off your connection because he assumes we’ll…” 

He exhaled, a deep whooshing breath from puffed cheeks. “Yeah. All right, I see your point.” 

“It just makes me feel bad, y’know? Him being all sad and alone, and us… not. Like, an hour after I talked to you both? No, that’s not fair.” She brought her legs up onto the couch and criss-crossed them. “I mean, pretend you were him, and he was you. How would you feel, then?” 

He chuckled mirthlessly. “I don’t have to pretend.” 

“Right. Yeah, ‘course you don’t.” 

“But I can also see how thick I’ve always been. Why it was stupid to wait as long as we did. Why it makes so much _more_ sense to try and grab a bit of happiness while I can. But he’s…” 

“What?” 

“He needs more time. I’d’ve needed more time.”

“Thought you weren’t supposed to tell me what he’s thinking. That you didn’t want to be a go-between.” 

“Consider this a special exception.” He stared ahead, but grabbed her hand, pulling it closer to him and weaving their fingers together. “We can wait.” 

His hand felt warm in hers and she began tracing gentle patterns against his palm as they watched the screen in front of them, where clouds of blue and green danced and shimmered. She scooted close enough to lay her cheek on his shoulder and sighed, enjoying the slow rise and fall of her body as he breathed. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she said in a quiet voice. “I don’t know if I’m supposed to wait for you both to be ready, or start up separately with you in the meantime.” 

“You’re supposed to do whatever it is that feels right.” He squeezed her hand, stilling her movements. “We’ve waited a long time already.” 

“God, I’m an idiot, aren’t I?” She brushed her hair out of her face with her free hand. “It sounded so simple when I said it, but it doesn’t change anything, really. You’re still the one who’s ready, and he’s not.”

“Are you?” 

“Am I what, an idiot?” 

“Ready. All this talk about moving forward, but are _you_ ready, Rose Tyler?” 

She swallowed, looking down at the mugs of tea on the table, and then at their hands on the cushion of the sofa. 

“No.” It dawned on her as she said it aloud. “No. I’m not.” 

“Then neither am I. That makes three of us, hm?” 

“But it’s not because I don’t want you. It’s-- I don’t want to hurt you. Not either of you.” She pulled back, looking at him, worried she’d see judgment or exasperation there, but he returned her gaze with an air of calm, and the pink in his cheeks had faded. “And it’s scary. It would’ve been scary anyway, but this… I’m still scared he doesn’t even want me here.” 

“He does. And I do, too.” His demeanor changed abruptly and he narrowed his eyes in thought, looking up at the ceiling and touching his tongue to his top lip. After a few seconds, he said, “You know, you should talk to him.” 

She shook her head. 

“I want to. But it was so weird last time. He could barely look at me.” She rubbed at her eye with her free hand and turned to look at him again. “You know, you can be a bit of a stubborn prat.” 

“I’m serious, Rose. Talk to him. Think he’s been spending a lot of time in the gardens lately. See how it goes. I think you got through to him today.” He paused, lifting his eyebrows. “As much as you can get through to a stubborn prat.” 

“Yeah. I will, later.” She let their silence hang for a moment. “Is this weird? Talking about this? About him?” 

“Nah. Know what is weird, though?” He gestured towards the telly with a nod of his head. “ _Reptilian_ judges for a Vaporous talent competition.” 

She broke into a grin. “Y’know, I was thinking that!” 

“Not fair, really, is it?” He sniffed. “It’s because the Praqo-Reptilians are considered the art-gurus of forty-fifth century Praqoria. The Praqo-Vaporians are pioneering a new art form. It’ll all be different in, oh, ten, twenty years. We could change to an episode from then, if you like. The development of the art a few decades down the line’s really brilliant. Though, you’d need to be a tetrachromat to fully appreciate it.” 

“I’ve got no idea what that is,” she said.

“What, tetrachromancy?” He sat up, looking excited. “Well, humans and humanoids typically have three receptors for colors in the eye, but lots of other species have four. Those are the tetrachromats. They can see color into the ultraviolet range of light. Some human women are functional tetrachromats, but that usually comes down to better distinction across the visible range, not seeing through to the ultraviolet.” 

“Oh. What about you, are you a tetra--?” Rose asked. 

“Tetrachromat. No, not me. I’ve got thirty receptors. I’m what you’d call a triacontachromat. I see colour all the way from radio to gamma ray.” 

“What, really?” 

“No.” He raised his eyebrows and grinned at her. “Used to be a triacontachromat. Now I’m that, minus ten percent.”

She rolled her eyes, laughing, and nudged her shoulder into his. “Shut up and let me watch my show.” 

He hummed, smirking, and pulled her closer by their linked hands. With a small smile, Rose settled her head back on his shoulder and let herself focus on the colours on the screen.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betas: rointheta and crazygirlne

The garden was a lot tidier now than before she’d been stranded. 

Before, vines and bushes, dreadfully overgrown, had transgressed into the winding brick paths. She used to have to watch her step, to jump and swing over the most tangled of branches and stems. The swirls of colourful grass, up to her knees, had separated the trees from the edibles only in theory, as radish shoots could always be found popping up in the fields. The garden, if such a large expanse could be called that, had always resembled nature more than anything carefully tended to. 

Now, the grass was trimmed. The hedges pruned. The edibles half-harvested, and a large basket perched at the entrance of the fruit garden, waiting for the rest. It was neat. Tidy. Flourishing without taking over. She couldn’t stop herself from thinking it was better before.

Rose made her way through the vegetable patch to her favourite spot under her favourite tree, which was tall and feathered with burgundy leaves. This area, at least, was unaltered. She sat down with a long sigh, making herself comfortable on the soft patch of teal grass and leaned her head back on the bark.

She’d told herself she’d give him twenty four hours, and his time was up. This was, apparently, where to find him, according to the other Doctor. Sooner or later. 

When he came through the gilded, green double doors a few short moments later, Rose’s stomach flipped and her heart sped up so much that she pressed her hand over her chest out of reflex. It took him a minute to get to her, giving Rose the time to watch him. He’d left his suit jacket somewhere, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbows. His brown pinstriped trousers were frayed at the knees and streaked with dirt, some pair that had been through one adventure too many. He wore his glasses, as well, and the artificial light glinted off of them as he moved. 

He was fairly close before he noticed her. There was a hint of change in his expression, but he trained his face back to neutral before she could figure out what it was. 

Pushing herself off the cushiony ground, Rose stood, brushing the dirt off of the back of her jeans. 

The Doctor picked up the basket at the entrance of the fruit garden and headed towards a row of unharvested bushes. They were covered in round, yellow fruits about the size of apricots. She followed him, sticking her hands in her back pockets. 

“Hey,” she said. 

“Hello.” He regarded her with cautious eyes. 

“I’m not here to demand an answer or anything.” She smiled weakly. “Just wanted to… Y’know. Hang out. If that’s okay?” 

He nodded, swallowing, some of the tension leaving his shoulders. Dropping to a crouch next to the first in the row of plants, he studied one of the yellow fruits, picking it and holding it up in front of his face. He lifted his chin, tongue peeking out and touching his lip as he rotated the fruit slowly. After giving it a gentle squeeze, he tossed it into the basket. 

“Time for a harvest?” Rose asked. 

“Yeah.” 

“Used to do a bit of gardening, in Pete’s World. Just to keep busy. For a little while, anyway. I can help you pick them.”

“If you like.” 

“What’re they called?” 

“Bacas.” 

“You’ve got a lot of them,” Rose said, looking down the row of bushes at the countless yellow dots growing smaller in the distance. 

“Need a lot of them,” he said, squeezing and picking another fruit off the vine. 

“Yeah?” She crouched down next to him, close enough to see the bacas clearly but not close enough that there was much risk of touching him. “What for?” 

“They’re medicinal.” He plucked another, squeezing it before putting it into the basket. “There’s a, er, mass illness on this little nameless moon orbiting a planet in Cassiopeia. Nothing immediately life-threatening, but it’s making their fur fall out, and they need their fur to keep warm. Soon some people will be freezing to death and, well…” He shrugged. “They eat these, it eliminates the parasite causing the fur loss. Good as new.” 

“You couldn’t plant them there?” 

He shook his head. “They won’t grow. The parasite causing the illness is alien to them. So’s the cure. Unfortunate incident with a dusting of micrometeorites originating from a few light years over. We-- I’ve been growing the bacas here and dropping them off every other month, our time. Every day their time. Once everyone’s had a nice bite to eat, they should be fine. It’s unlikely to ever happen again.”

“That’s lovely of you.” 

“I wasn’t going to. Not at first. Didn’t think it was my place. These things happen, after all.” The Doctor smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We were only there because the TARDIS kept refusing to take us to the spa planet I was aiming for.”

“You were with Donna,” Rose said, watching the Doctor’s body language. He didn’t flinch, didn’t tense, but he didn’t look at her either. 

“Yeah.” He plucked three more bacas off the bush, holding them in a wide grip, and tossed them a little less gently into the basket. 

“She wanted you to help them.” 

“Yeah.” He clenched his jaw. “That’s Donna, though.” 

Rose smiled, leaning back on her haunches, eyes trained on his tense face. 

“You would’ve liked her,” he said, looking up and making eye contact for the first time. He spoke like he was pushing out the words. “I think you’d’ve got along.” 

Rose looked down and licked her lips, drawing the bottom one into her mouth and biting down for a second as she debated with herself. 

“I knew her,” she blurted.

The Doctor turned his head sharply, eyes finding hers, and she stood. Her knees were aching anyway, and his eyes were suddenly too close, too piercing to remain so close to him. 

“The pocket universe,” the Doctor said. 

“Yeah.” 

“You remember? She… She forgot it.” 

“Yeah. I remember. I was there for months. Trying to figure out how to get the universe how it should be again.” 

“What changed? The Trickster’s Brigade, the beetle, it changes something small. What was it?” 

She rubbed at her forehead, looking down at her feet. 

“Rose?” 

He was sitting in the garden bed now, the nearly-empty basket next to him, his body angled towards her, plants forgotten. 

“She, um, she turned right instead of left.”

He waited, watching her. 

“In a car with her mum.” 

“And?” 

She squeezed her eyes shut, and looked above him once she opened them again. “And you died.”

He lifted his jaw, looking up and inhaling through his mouth. He exhaled into a nod, eyebrows raised as though he were digesting her words. “Oh.” 

“I knew the Donna Noble who didn’t know you. You never met her.” 

Something sparked in Rose’s mind and she walked back towards the Doctor, sitting next to him in the soil, criss-crossing her legs and letting her knee brush his thigh as she moved. 

“She was brilliant,” Rose said, looking straight ahead. “Brave and clever even when she was scared. She saved that whole universe and ours too.”

“Yeah?” His voice was quiet. She could see out of the corner of her eye that he was looking straight ahead as well. 

“It didn’t take much. To bring out that brilliance.” She swallowed, scrunching her nose, before taking a deep breath. She pushed on. “It didn’t take you.” 

She heard him sniff and fought the urge to look over, instead groping for his hand and grabbing it in hers. He didn’t twine their fingers, didn’t adjust his grip to find the best angle the way he normally would. But she squeezed his hand, and he let her, and they sat in silence, looking at the rows of yellow fruits ready to be plucked. 

After a moment, he pulled his hand away, pushing his palms into the ground to help himself up. He leaned forward and squeezed another baca, pulling it off the bush once he was satisfied. 

“You can tell they’re ready to be plucked when they’re just a little soft. Not too soft. Like a peach. The skin should be yellow the whole way around. If it’s got brown spots, it’s gone bad. If it’s white, it’s not ripe yet. But they ripen slowly, so the whole batch should be good at once.” 

He pushed the basket between them with one foot and dropped the fruit in. 

“Here, give it a try.” 

\--

They’d finished the harvest, and she was sitting up against her favourite tree again, leaning heavily against the trunk with her legs straight out in front of her to combat the ache in her back from hunching over the baca bushes. The Doctor sat next to her, his back straight, barely brushing the tree at all. Together their legs formed a V, and though they didn’t face one another, there was something comfortable in this, something that been missing for a while. 

“Are they any good?” Rose asked, selecting a particularly plump fruit from basket and turning it over in her hand. 

The Doctor shook his head. “Nah. Not bad, though. Tastes like parsnips.” 

“No, ta.” She dropped it softly back into the box. “I like what you’ve done with the place, by the way. Back at mum’s, in the other universe… I used to grow peas and onions. I tried to grow tomatoes, but they got some sort of fungus? Maybe it was mould. Figures. I was rubbish at gardening.” 

She felt him settle a little more firmly against the bark next to her. 

“Took up a lot of hobbies,” she said. “Knitting, yoga, running… Started drawing again. Not all at once, mind. And I was never very good at most of them. Save the running.” 

“How long were you there?” he asked, voice overly casual. 

“Three years. How long has it been since I left? For you.” 

“Longer than that. Hard to say.” He sped up his voice. “What’d you do? For Torchwood.” 

She bit her lip to stop a grin. “Well, I tested the cannon, right.” 

He didn’t speak again, and after several seconds she sighed. He was trying to talk to her, properly, and she was making stupid jokes. 

“I was a field agent for two years,” she said, fingertips digging into the leg of her jeans. “I joined a response team. Later on, I led it. I knew a lot more about aliens than any of them, but I didn’t know anything about the actual responding. Used to always let you figure it out and, we didn’t go into it like 21st century humans, anyway. Had to learn emergency medical treatment, reconnaissance tactics, basic alien information... I studied the most common Earth-visiting species. Learned a handful of phrases in their languages, their nutrition, common ailments, that sort of thing. We used to joke, Mickey and me, that I’d finally got my A levels, only the A stood for alien.” 

She shook her head, smiling. “Anyway, there’re are a lot more peaceful species crashing and getting injured than invaders. At least on Pete’s World. Though, we had a bit of that too. I’d been leading a team for about half a year when the stars started going out.” 

“Then what?” 

“Then we restructured the Special Projects Division to work on finding a way to travel between the universes. The, um, the buttons they had before, when the Cybermen and the Daleks were here… Those weren’t working, but the readings still showed up when we scanned them, right. And we wanted to make sure we weren’t damaging anything, that we’d just slip through the cracks that were already there this time. So we had to design something new.” 

“Did you work on the design?” He looked over at her, the corners of his mouth turned down like he was impressed. 

“Me? God, no. We just had a small team. Three of us. Dad put me on it because we all knew I was gonna be the one to test it if we ever had a prototype. I worked with this brilliant woman called Tosh on the design, but I only understood it in general terms.” She pushed some hair out of her eyes. “We never really expected it to work at first. But the tears between dimensions kept growing, and then it did.”

“How long were you travelling?” His voice was a little scratchy and he cleared his throat.

“Six months, give or take.” She leaned her head back, looking up at the feathered fronds. “Not counting the time I spent in the pocket universe. It wasn’t all bad. Saw a lot. Thought maybe I’d find a world where, I dunno, Harry Potter was real, or maybe one where I was a rich and famous, or I had a twin… but I never did.” 

He was silent.

“It wasn’t ‘gingerbread houses,’ though. Either the changes were very small, or they were catastrophic.”

Next to her, he fidgeted, pointing the toes of his trainers out and then up again like he was readying himself to get up.

“Was it--” he started, but Rose interrupted.

“So can I come with you?” 

Her cheeks heated up and she looked down at her lap with a nervous laugh. She’d started changing the subject before she realised he wanted to keep the conversation going.

“Where?” 

“Um. That moon, the one you’re bringing the fruit to.” 

“Oh. Oh! Sure. Actually. There’s this lovely display by the fireflies there, every night at dusk. And the food is decent. Lots of fresh bread and fish.”

“That sounds brilliant.”

“Should be a nice break from people trying to kill us.” He frowned. “I hope.”

“Should we go now?” 

He shrugged. “Suppose. No time like the present.” 

The Doctor stood and extended a hand for Rose, who looked up at him with a smile as she placed her palm in his. 

“Up you go,” he said, and pulled. She almost overbalanced, but he steadied her with his other hand at her shoulder, and they were still for a second. When she looked up at him, she saw his eyes had slipped shut, and his dimple showed faintly. She leaned towards him without thought, looking up at his long lashes, even as guilt curled in her stomach, telling her to step away from what was clearly too much, too soon. She could smell him: spicier than the other Doctor, with a trace of soap even though they’d been gardening for at least an hour. He released her shoulder, arm falling to his side, but their hands stayed linked, and she brushed her thumb against the back of his. Then, she forced herself to let go of him, stepping back.

“I’ll just go get changed,” the Doctor said, eyes open again and focussed somewhere above her head.

“Yeah.” Rose looked down at her dirt-smeared jeans. “Me too. Maybe a shower.” 

He huffed. “Yeah. I’d love one too, if my doppelganger’s finished hogging the bathroom by now.” 

Rose pursed her lips together, smiling. “Been having problems with that?” 

“I can’t imagine what he’s doing in there. Always fixing his hair or something. Apparently the follicles are different.” He scrunched his nose. “At least, I hope that’s what he’s doing.” 

“Why don’t you just use another one?” 

“Why doesn’t _he?_ Or, better yet, why doesn’t he just use it for a reasonable amount of time and then it won’t be an issue.” 

“I seem to recall a certain someone hogging the bathroom on Racstrom Nine for an hour every morning,” Rose said, stepping out of the shade of the tree and starting to walk. He grabbed the basket and followed.

“Then you can imagine how much _longer_ he takes for me to think it merits mentioning.” 

“You can use mine,” she said, catching his eye for a second before looking ahead. “Know it hasn’t got those jets you like. But I can play my iPod in there, and it comes out these little speakers right above the head rest in the bath… That’s the sort of thing you miss, y’know? Headphones just aren’t the same.”

They got to the double doors and the Doctor snuck ahead of her, opening it with his free hand and letting her go ahead. 

“Meet me in the console room in half an hour?” he asked. 

“Yeah.” She grinned. “Can’t wait.” 

\--

Twenty minutes later, Rose sat on the jump seat, swinging her legs and biting at the nail on her right pinky finger. Her hair was tied back in a neat ponytail, her makeup limited to some mascara and liner. She’d thrown a navy blue, buttoned jacket over a tighter, long-sleeved t-shirt in the hopes that it would provide enough warmth on a moon where the inhabitants needed their fur. She was going to need some new jeans soon, but she was in another soft, baggy pair from before she’d left. 

Butterflies flew madly in her stomach and she kicked at the base of the chair, wondering if she should’ve told the other Doctor, whether he was coming along too. He’d have to feel the rumbling of the TARDIS, or hear it shift out of the vortex, wouldn’t he? While she was happy that she’d managed a normal conversation with the Doctor in brown, that didn’t mean she wanted to keep up this constant splitting into pairs. 

But then, that was the point, wasn’t it. 

“...About time.” One of the Doctor’s voices sounded down the corridor, faint and impossible to assign to a colour. Heat raced through Rose’s chest, spreading into her limbs like pinpricks, and she held her breath, listening closer.

“....Asking you.” The other Doctor’s voice was even quieter, and she could only make out the end of his sentence because they were getting closer. 

“Didn’t have to.” 

“Yeah, don’t remind me, thanks.” This one was annoyed. 

“Keep it up, hm?” 

Their voices were louder, their footsteps echoing into the rounded room. It would only be a few more seconds before they saw her. She rested her elbow on the back of the seat and put her head in her hand, hoping it would cover the red she could feel in her cheeks.

“Might want to give it more than a moment’s thought.” His tone was matter-of-fact, almost arrogant.

“Mmm, thanks. Very helpful. Please feel free to chime in anytime.”

They quieted again as they stepped into the room, side-by-side, and Rose trained her breathing, forced herself to calm, as she looked over at them and waved. The Doctor in brown leaned awkwardly as he walked into the console room, the giant wicker basket filled with bacas weighing him down. The Doctor in blue smiled at her and moved over to her side of the console, pulling a lever and pressing three buttons in rapid movements. 

“Oi,” the other said, from his spot by the exit. He’d placed the fruit next to the doors and was walking back, finger pointed at his counterpart. “Don’t start the materialisation sequence.” 

“Why not?” he said, voice rising high. 

“Because!” 

“Oh, okay. ‘Because.’ Very compelling argument. Won’t happen again.” 

“...Can’t wait ten seconds,” the Doctor in brown said under his breath. He joined them near the console, standing on the opposite side and hitting a button that got the Time Rotor pulsing. 

“Should someone maybe put a cover on that basket, do you think?” Rose asked, looking over at the bacas packed right to the top. “Reckon we’re gonna have a mess to clean up when you land.” 

The Doctor in brown tilted his head, face inclined towards the TARDIS doors, and then he turned towards the Doctor in blue. The two men exchanged a glance, and then the Doctor in blue turned to Rose.

“How about a bet instead,” he said.

“A bet?” 

The Doctor in brown grinned. “Bet you ten quid that, between the two of us, we land the TARDIS so smoothly that not a single baca falls out of the basket. What do you say?” 

“I say you never paid me the ten quid from last time, neither of you.” Rose grinned, adjusting in the seat and tucking her legs under her. “But yeah. You’re on. Show me what you got.” 

The Doctors looked at one another, faces set in identical resolve, and then they sprung into motion, jumping around the console in a coordinated dance that left Rose staring and was over far too fast. The rotor stopped its pulsing and the hum of the TARDIS grew softer before Rose even realised that they’d landed. 

“Ha.” The Doctor in blue looked over at her, grinning with his mouth open. When she grinned back at him, he gave her a wink.

“Call it even, then, eh?” The Doctor in brown pressed his lips together, but it looked like he was holding back a smile as he moved toward the TARDIS doors and the undisturbed basket of fruit. 

\--

“You’re not running off by yourself, right?” Rose asked. 

“Nah,” the Doctor in brown said with a sniff.

They’d landed in a clearing of green rocks. She followed the Doctors across the way, towards a small house marked with a strange symbol like three triangles stacked on top of one another. Every step they took kicked up pale, green dust that was quickly coating their trousers. She looked up as she walked and found the moon’s planet, looming brown and orange in the sky. It looked solid, not gaseous, but Rose couldn’t see any oceans or clouds.

The moon wasn’t as cold as she’d thought it would be. The air was just chilly enough for her to see her breath if she angled her head right. People walked through the clearing here and there, most covered in fluffy green fur that made them look more like giant bipedal pomeranians than humanoids. It was only because some had coats that looked a little patchy that Rose could tell they were about the size and shape of a human. Even so, she wasn’t sure if they themselves were green or simply covered in dust. 

The Doctor placed the basket at the doorstep of the house and knocked. A furry person answered the door and broke into a big smile, which turned into a look of confusion as their eyes moved from one Doctor to the other. 

“Who’s this?” 

“Long story,” they said in unison, and then the brown Doctor added, “Well, not so long. This is my twin brother, Rocco. Say hi, Rocco! Donna’s home for a bit; she sends her regards. Oh! And this is Rose, a friend of ours.” 

“Hello,” Rose said, with a wave. She shot a look at the Doctor in blue, who smiled and raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘yeah, whatever.’ Then, she let herself grin. “Rocco and I are pleased to meet you.” 

“I’m Madrien.” The smile returned. “Pleasure to meet you, too. Doctor… Thank you. Can we convince you to stay for a meal tonight?”

“Yes, actually! Rose hasn’t seen your fine moon before, and we’d love to show her the Spectacle tonight, if you can accommodate us.” 

“For you, anything.” 

“Brilliant!” The Doctor in blue grinned. “We’ll just show her around in the meantime. Wanted to be sure the bacas got to you safely. And here they are. Safe.” 

Madrien looked at the blue Doctor, expression a bit confused, but nodded. “We’ll have a table set up for you three on the vista. Thank you again, and see you tomorrow.” 

\--

There wasn’t much to see, just small buildings and scattered people, some of whom were eating bacas now. There was a river bordering one side of the town and a field on the other, and in between were single-storey, wooden homes dotted along the unpaved streets. There were trees along the horizon, but it looked to be an hour’s walk or more. 

The moon’s one remarkable feature was on the north end of town. There, a hill, with a large enough plateau to seat ten or twenty people, overlooked the river and the trees in the distance. 

Rose and the Doctors took their time walking from Madrien’s home towards the knoll, their shoes growing dusty and green. They didn’t chat much, and when she looked at them, they each wore expressions that were a little bit lost. 

They found their seats at the single table atop the hill just as it began to get dark. The table was covered in a plain, green linen and was set with three glasses of water and three plates, each with a small loaf of bread and a piece of fish. 

Rose ripped off a piece of bread and ate it slowly, watching the star that looked so similar to Earth’s sun drop in the sky. It was set behind the brown of the moon’s planet and cast the view around them in a dull, green glow. It had been ages since Rose had enjoyed a sunset on another planet, or another moon, and she relaxed, leaning forward to sample the fish and eat the rest of her bread. 

“The star here’s called Chara,” said the Doctor in brown, from her left. “We’re not far from home, really. Only about twenty-eight light years.” 

“Chara’s brighter than old Sol,” the blue Doctor said, extending his arms and planting his elbows on the table, ignoring his food. “Little bit bigger, too.” 

The Doctor in brown leaned back in his chair, propping his right ankle on his left knee. “It’s actually one of the first stars that humans on Earth thought could support life. And you were right. Brilliant, you lot.” 

“Figured it out from estimating chemical composition, size, temperature. All through a telescope,” the Doctor in blue finished. 

Chara dipped beneath the horizon and the sky went totally dark. Seconds later, a buzzing started, subtle at first, and Rose saw a dim glow along the bottom of the hill as she craned her neck. The glow brightened and the buzz grew louder and a circle of fireflies rose all around them, bouncing and dancing in the air. They formed a dome, enclosing the top of the hill in twinkling yellow lights. 

“It’s gorgeous.” She gasped, standing, and twirling slowly as she took in the blanket of light. “Why are they doing this?” 

“One last breath of warm air and solar radiation before the night.” 

She wasn’t sure who spoke. For the first time, she wasn’t sure it mattered, and something like hope danced through her to the shimmering rhythm of the lights.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> betas: crazygirlne and rointheta :) Additionally, thank you to everyone who I bugged about this chapter!

After their trip to the nameless moon, Rose had bid both her Doctors goodnight, and the men had exchanged a look before the Doctor in brown asked her if she was interested in going on a trip the following morning. 

She’d said yes, of course, and her stomach had fluttered, though she kept her face calm. The one in brown had nodded, curt, and the one in blue had told her to wear something vintage, but industrial. Jeans, he’d said, would stand out like a sore thumb. 

It had been a long time since the Doctor had chosen a trip for them, and the thought of it had kept her wired for hours after. That, and Rose was pretty sure it had been nowhere near time for bed. When she’d finally slept, she’d dreamt of the stars going out and fireflies lighting up in their place.

Now, Rose strolled into the console room, dressed in a lacy, white, long sleeved dress that cut off above the knee and cinched at the waist. She’d found it in her closet, likely care of the TARDIS. Vintage, most definitely. She’d paired it with the chunky, black boots she’d arrived in, not bothering to don leggings even though the skirt was a bit short.

“How’s this?” she asked, giving a little twirl. 

The Doctor in blue tilted his head as he watched her, while the one in brown glanced up and away again, focusing his energies on toying with the piece of TARDIS console that looked like a cow bell. 

“Perfect.” The Doctor in blue grinned.

“So, New York City, twenty-third century?” the Doctor in brown asked, his hands shoved into his pockets. “Catch a show? Nouveau Broadway? Then maybe a hover-carriage ‘round the park, finish up with some pizza?” 

She bit her lip, looking between the two of them. 

“What do you think?” the one in blue asked, hands moving towards his pockets as well until he seemed to catch himself and pulled them back.

“Yeah. New York City, it is,” Rose said, sitting down on the jump seat and swinging her linked ankles. “Need any help?”

“Nah!” The Doctor in blue gave her a grin and wink from over his shoulder, then flipped a large switch. The other Doctor turned a knob and hit several buttons, and the Time Rotor began to pulse. 

She watched them, smiling and sneaking a glance at any bum that happened by, until a bit of turbulence sent the Doctor in blue sprawling towards her. He nearly knocked her off her seat, but managed to land with one hand against the backrest. Before she could offer assistance, he pushed himself off the back of the jumpseat, rushing back into the fray and grabbing onto the console again. 

“Thought it was supposed to be a smooth ride with two of you!” Rose said, bracing herself with her hands on the underside of the cushion.

“Right, yep! Hold tight. Straightening out!” the Doctor in brown shouted from across the room. 

“Seatbelt signs are on!” the Doctor in blue added, though his face was a grimace and not the cheeky wink she expected. 

After a jerk that almost threw her off the chair, the Doctors splayed themselves across the entire console, arms wide, gripping handles and pushing buttons. 

The TARDIS lurched once more, then stilled, as the Time Rotor gave one last, long pulse. The Doctor in blue moved over towards the monitor and stood next to his counterpart. They each shoved a hand in their hair. 

“Let me guess,” Rose said, “we’re not in New York.”

They glanced at one another, a short, meaningful look, and Rose had a feeling she’d come to regard that particular shared expression with a sense of deep concern.

“What?” 

“The monitor’s gone all fuzzy,” the Doctor in blue said. “No idea where we are. But I think we ought to find out.” 

\--

“Blimey, this is _gorgeous_ ,” she said, stepping outside. “Mind, not sure about this outfit now, but… Think it’s worth it.” 

The TARDIS had landed at the bottom of a turquoise lagoon. Between the TARDIS and the water was a thin patch of sand, which circled the entire lake. Across the way, tall mountains extended beyond as far as she could see. To the right, the ocean spanned out to the horizon. Rose took another step forward. Despite the sunlight, she was standing in shade. 

Looking up, she gasped, realising that the mountains on the other side of the lake were also behind her, extending in a U-shape. The mountains were covered in tremendous, dark green trees that looked and smelled like pines, though they shimmered when the sun hit them right. She turned around, looking at the widest part of the crescent. Log cabins were arranged along the foot of the mountains, perhaps ten or fifteen of them, spread out. No one was out, but there was smoke coming from a chimney down the way. To get to the cabins, she’d have to walk the horseshoe shoreline of the lake to the middle of the U.

“Is this Earth?” Rose asked, spinning slowly, eyes moving from mountain to lake to ocean and back again. 

“No,” the Doctor in blue said, coming to stand next to her. “Don’t think so.”

“Hmm…” The other Doctor leaned down, licking his finger, sticking it into the sand, and tasting it. He smacked his lips. “Yep. The sand’s made of carbon, not silica. Still. Earth- _like_ , anyway. Suppose that’s obvious.” 

“It _is_ the twenty-third century, though,” the Doctor in blue said, on Rose’s other side. “Can tell that much. And we can’t be more than a few light years away from Earth. Barely off track, in the grand scheme.”

“If it’s not Earth, then where are we?” Rose asked.

“Dunno,” the Doctor in blue said, sticking his hands into his pockets.

“Shall we have a look around, then?” Rose asked, raising a hand to her forehead and looking out towards the cabins. 

“Suppose,” the Doctor in blue said. 

“But why’d she bring us _here_?” The Doctor in brown craned his neck, looking at the mountains, and a sliver of sunlight fell across his face in a bright stripe. 

The Doctor in blue began walking, and Rose glanced at his twin, at his troubled expression, before slowly following. 

“We did get a bit of sludge on her, last time she landed in New York,” the Doctor in blue said. “So much rubbish on the pavements there. Maybe she wasn’t in the mood for the city.” 

“Don’t think that’s it,” the Doctor in brown said, putting his hands into the pockets of his overcoat. 

It took several minutes to reach the cabins. The sand gave way to grass in the widest area, and they peered through the gaps between cabins, looking for someone to talk to, but found no one. 

“That one at the end’s got smoke coming out the chimney,” Rose said, pointing. 

She pressed on ahead, faster now, with a Doctor on either side. Her hands itched to grab theirs, so she folded her arms, tracing the lacy patterns in her sleeves with the hand on the outside. To distract herself, she watched the cabins as she passed by. They were simple, and every single log was brown and fresh looking, like they were new. Instead of wooden roofs, the cabins had metal panelling that it looked like it was pulled from an aeroplane and laid atop the houses. The combination of logs and metal was, Rose mused, very vintage meets industrial. 

When they got to the cabin at the end, Rose stepped up first, rapping on the door and stepping back to wait for an answer. Seconds passed, and the silence grew heavy, until she realised she couldn’t hear so much as a bird chirping, and certainly not anyone moving about inside. 

Rose craned her neck, trying to look through the window nearest the door, but it was rounded and convex, reminding her of a spaceship. She looked over her shoulder and found both Doctors watching with neutral, interested faces, and she couldn’t stop the laugh that erupted as she turned back and knocked once more for good measure. 

“...Nothing, eh?” she said after a minute. 

“We could…” The Doctor in blue stopped, shaking his head. “Nah.” 

“Best not,” the Doctor in brown agreed. 

“What?”

“Er…” The Doctor in blue took the sonic out of his breast pocket, wiggling it in his fingers.

“Oh.” Rose scrunched her nose. “I mean. We can walk around some more, yeah? What if they’re in the bath or something?” 

“Yeah.” He replaced the sonic in his jacket. 

“ _Some people_ ,” the Doctor in brown said, looking at Rose, his eyebrows drawn up in mock-horror. He caught the other’s eye and turned, walking away. 

“There has to be someone around here somewhere,” Rose said, catching up. “Let’s keep looking.” 

Just then, a little boy ran past Rose, heading towards the direction of the TARDIS at top speed. 

“Hey! Oi!” Rose ran after him and the boy stopped, turning around and regarding the trio with a skeptical expression. 

“Who’re you lot?” 

“I’m Rose, and these are the Doctors.” She smiled, crouching down to his height. He was sandy haired, with deep tan skin and freckles across the bridge of his nose. He looked about six or seven, at most, and was dressed in a tunic that was a little too big for him. “Where’s your family?” 

“Temple,” he said, tugging at his sleeve. 

“Oh, is it Sunday?” the Doctor in blue asked, voice going high. “Thought it felt like a Sunday.” 

The little boy nodded, regarding the Doctor with wide, wary eyes. The Doctor grinned in response, looking very pleased.

“The temple’s over there, is it?” Rose asked, nodding in the direction of the TARDIS. 

“Yeah,” the boy said. “By the sea. I’m late and me mum’s left without me.”

“There’re a lot of people at the temple?” Rose asked, giving him an encouraging smile.

“I dunno. Mostly everybody, I think.” He chewed on his finger nail, then dropped his hand at his side. “Are you new here? You from the next colony?” 

“Colony?” Rose asked. 

“Mum says the next colony’ll be here soon. With chocolates. And me cousin John.” 

“No, that’s not us. We’re just visitors.” 

“We don’t get visitors.” The boy frowned. “Mum’s waiting on me.” 

“All right. Off you go, then.” Rose smiled. “Don’t let us keep you. And thanks for your help.” 

The boy frowned at them. “Why’s they look the same?” 

“They’re twins,” Rose said, before the Doctors could interject. “Brothers. That’s all.” 

The child squinted at the Doctors, watching them closely. 

“Your clothes’re weird,” he said, and then he turned around and ran off. 

\--

“Colony,” the Doctor in brown said, running a hand through his hair. They ambled in the direction of the TARDIS, hoping to find another straggler on their way to temple, but the town was quiet. 

“Twenty-third century, human colony. Earth-origin, too,” the blue Doctor said. 

“Earth origin? How d’you know that?” Rose asked. 

“Well, he was talking in English,” the blue Doctor said. 

“Oh.” 

“So this has to be New Earth Prime,” the Doctor in brown said. 

“Seems like,” the other agreed. 

“New Earth Prime?” Rose asked. “Right. Give me three guesses and I think I might get it. The first New Earth. Suppose it’ll have a New New York, with just one extra ‘New.’ Am I right?” 

“Not yet, it doesn’t,” the Doctor in blue said, moving from her right side to her left and placing himself between her and the other Doctor. “This place is new. _New_ new. Now.” 

“So that would make--” the Doctor in brown looked up at the mountains, then over at his twin. 

“First human settlement on New Earth Prime, mountainside, shimmering trees…” The Doctor in blue rubbed at the back of his neck. “Yep. That’d be my guess too.” 

“What?” Rose asked. 

“Those’re called the Boulderstone Mountains,” the Doctor in brown said, glancing at Rose as he walked. “They’re well known, on New Earth Prime. Tallest mountain range on the planet, and longest, too. It’s just--” 

“Just what?” she asked. 

“It’s seismologically…” He frowned, and pulled out his sonic. “This whole region: it’s prone to earthquakes. The Boulderstone Mountain region’s known for it. Between the mountains and the ocean, this isn’t a safe place to be. Earthquakes mean avalanches and tsunamis, too, in a valley like this. This entire lagoon is - well. Not ideal for a settlement. They can’t’ve been here long.” 

Rose stopped. “So it’s dangerous?” 

“Sooner or later, it would be. I didn’t even recognise it on this side. No one comes here,” the Doctor in brown said. “And there’s a very good reason no one settled on this side of the mountains.”

The Doctor in blue stopped, corners of his mouth turned down. “Well. If they did settle here, they didn’t stay long enough for anyone to know about it.”

“Because they relocated?” Rose asked. 

The Doctors looked at each other. 

“Or because they didn’t make it, and no one knew?” 

“We--” the blue Doctor started, then stopped.

“We can’t be sure what happened,” the other finished. 

“You don’t know either way then. They might’ve moved. So we can warn them.” 

The Doctors looked at each other, and the one in blue’s mouth twitched. 

“Right. Then we should tell them.” Rose scanned the crescent, listening to the too-quiet of waves lapping against the shore beyond the lake. “After their mass lets out, we’ll tell them they ought to move to the other side of the mountains. Where the settlement belongs.”

“Where exactly is…” The Doctor in brown craned his neck until he lit up, his eyes settling somewhere behind Rose. “Ah, there. That cavern right against the shoreline. Where the mountain meets the ocean, see? That’s where the boy ran.”

Rose turned, following the Doctor’s eyeline until she saw it too. Past the edge of the lake and a small way down from the TARDIS, was a cave in the side of the mountain. Its entrance was some sort of metal door, one that shut from the top, it seemed, as it was about halfway open now. Waves lapped on the sand just shy of the cave.

The Doctor in brown’s focus was on his sonic. “Hold on. Look at this.” 

“What?” 

“Get yours. We should compare readings.” 

The Doctor in blue pulled his sonic from his suit pocket and adjusted the setting until its humming joined the other in a dissonant harmony. He drifted closer to the other Doctor and the two men stood shoulder to shoulder.

“See?” the Doctor in brown asked. 

“Oh, that’s not good.” 

“What?” Rose moved over to where they were standing, eyes flickering between the two. 

The Doctor in blue switched his sonic off, sticking it back into his jacket pocket. “You’d think she’d’ve given us a little more leeway.”

“Doctor.” Rose folded her arms, not sure who she was talking to.

“We should go,” the Doctor in brown said, flicking his off too. “It’s not enough time.” 

“What?” Rose asked, growing frustrated. “How much time have we got?” 

“Well, certainly not enough to have them leave on their own,” the Doctor in blue said, but he was looking at his counterpart. “I don’t see a ship, do you?” 

“Well, I do, yeah. All over. It’s been stripped for parts. Look at the cabins.” The Doctor in brown jerked his head in their direction. “Probably had no intention of leaving, and no fuel either. He called this a ‘colony,’ didn’t he?” 

“Right. Good eye.” The Doctor in blue “If nothing else, we could--”

“Oi, how much time have we got? We can evacuate them in the TARDIS if they haven’t got transport anymore.”

The Doctor in blue raised his eyebrows, tilting his head to the side. “That’s actually what we were--”

“We can’t know how much time. Not much. The sonic - sonics - show a seismographic disruption coming, and soon by the looks of it.” 

“How soon?” Rose asked. 

As if in answer, a tremor rattled through the mountains around them, spreading until it was under her feet. It wasn’t much, not enough to send the birds flying out of the trees, or to create more than a low, rumbling noise that was overtaken by the waves around them. 

“Right.” Rose folded her arms. “Not much time, then. We’ll leave the TARDIS open, right, and I’ll start evacuating the temple.” 

“Rose, no. We should go,” the Doctor in brown said. “We can’t know there’s enough time to get everyone out.” 

Rose looked up at the mountains, then out to the sea. “Tsunami’s the real threat, right? And those take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the epicentre of the quake. And I don’t see much snow on those mountains. Think it’s summer, right? Just the peaks have snow. So we won’t worry about avalanches.” 

“Rose--” the Doctor in brown stepped towards her. 

“No. It’s like that little moon, right? You two aren’t sure it’s your place to step in. Right now, we don’t know what happens to this settlement. But I’m telling you: we’re what happens.”

The Doctor in blue watched her, eyes narrowed and analytical. 

“I’ve had disaster response training,” she said. “Doctor - um. We need a way to differentiate between-- Ugh. Forget it. Blueberry. You stay with the TARDIS, right. Start guiding people inside as I evacuate them. We don’t want them unattended in your ship, right? And you--” She pointed at the Doctor in brown, ignoring the way the Doctor in blue pressed his lips together. “Run down to the end. Where we started, the one with the smoke. Fast as you can. Evacuate whoever’s inside. And _now’s_ the time to break in, nevermind if they’re in the bath. Got it?” 

The Doctor in blue frowned. His counterpart nodded, a terse, serious motion, before turning and running in the direction of the farthest cabin. 

She turned, starting to run towards the entrance to the temple, but then she stopped, facing the Doctor again. “Oi, turn the telepathy thing back on, yeah?” 

“Already did,” the Doctor said, and broke into a jog towards the TARDIS. 

Rose ran, not bothering to see if the Doctor was keeping up with her. She passed the TARDIS and headed towards the open temple door. 

It wasn’t far, but she had to navigate the narrow strip of sand on the circumference of the lake, then walk along the mountain until she reached the gleaming, thick metal door, which was suspended with a very thick rope and pulley tied to a knot in the cave’s exterior. The doorway was lined in metal at the ground, as well. 

No doubt it was from their ship, and the waves threatening to wash over Rose’s boots, along with the barnacles on the base of the mountain just next to the door, told her that it was in use here to keep the high tide out.

Soft singing echoed out from the cavern, and Rose slowed her run as she ducked under the entry and stepped inside. She opened her mouth, but stopped as she looked around her. About thirty or forty people were seated along pews made from bisected tree trunks. The room was deep but narrow, and Rose understood why they worshipped so close to the shoreline as she glanced quickly upwards. The cavern was tremendously tall, shaped like a real church, and the ceiling was covered with aquamarine stalactites that looked like gemstones, glimmering in the muted candlelight. 

“Sorry,” she said under her breath to the watching congregants, moving up the aisle to the altar, eyes scanning the room. As she walked, she could see the little boy in the second row, and he waved at her. She waved back. The small group that was singing quieted, their faces confused, and she gave them a small smile. 

“Er, excuse me, miss?” someone to Rose’s right said and she turned, finding a woman standing near the wall of the cave. Her flowing violet tunic and small headdress, which held back her dark, wavy hair, suggested that this woman was the priest. _Her_ assistance would be ideal. 

Rose stepped forward, beckoning the priest towards her, and spoke so only she could hear. “So sorry to interrupt. My name is Rose Tyler. I’m a visitor, here, with two scientists, er, conducting some research. We happened upon your settlement.” She smiled, trying to look friendly. “We’ve got reason to believe that there may be an earthquake here soon. We’ve got big enough transport for all of you and would like to bring you to the other side of the mountain range, where it’s safer.” 

The woman regarded Rose with serious eyes, scanning her face, and Rose looked at her imploringly. After a beat, the woman nodded. “Can it wait until after the service?” 

Another tremor, like a low vibration, pulsed through the cave. The woman looked up at the rattling stalactites, then back at Rose. 

“No. It has to be now,” Rose said. “We need to get these people into my transport and evacuate them. Please.” 

The woman nodded, and her eyes flitted towards her congregation and back to Rose. “Where is it? Your transport. I didn’t hear a ship.” 

“It’s outside. It’s a blue box. A bit unorthodox, but you can’t miss it. There’s a bloke waiting there; he’ll show you. Everyone will fit inside even though it looks small.”

“Is there time to go back for our things?” the woman asked, looking at Rose. Her eyes were as violet as her tunic, wide and trusting. 

“No. There’s no time at all. My friend is checking all your cabins and evacuating the rest of the town.”

“All right.” 

“You go on ahead, please. Make sure everyone gets into the transport. I’ll stay in here until everyone’s been cleared out. I know this is bonkers, and I’m asking you to take a lot on faith.” She placed her hand on the woman’s shoulder and squeezed. “So thank you.”

“It’s what I do, actually,” she said with a bright smile and faced her congregation. “We’ll have to resume our hymn a little later, all right, everyone? I’d like the last row to stand and begin filing out when I get to the door. Like our procession: quick and calm.” 

“What’s going on?” a man in the back asked, voice resonating in the chamber. 

“Merely a precaution,” the priest said, stepping down from the altar and moving towards the entrance. “Please rise. Parents, please carry small children.” 

The congregants stood, exchanging uneasy looks, and the row closest to the exit waited until the priest joined them before zippering into a line at the center aisle and following her out the door. Rose watched, following the aisle as the people began to clear out. When a small group of teens exchanged grins and glances, and ran around the edge of the temple instead of heading towards the centre aisle, Rose stepped in, asking them in a calm voice to file out like they’d been asked. One of them glared at her, rolling his eyes, but they all complied.

The little boy and his mother had somehow found themselves at the end of the line, late again, and the boy kept trying to walk over to the altar, while his mother shooed him away. Rose exchanged a look with the woman, whose eyes grew wide at whatever she saw in Rose’s. Then, she grabbed her son by the hand, pulling him towards the exit.

There were only a few people left to clear out when the quake began. 

First, the rumbling started up again, like the tremors, only it got so much stronger. The front of the lingering line broke into a run towards the exit and Rose shouted at them to find a steady spot along the wall and brace themselves, instead. There’d be time, after, to evacuate. The teenagers didn’t listen, running to the exit. 

Rose was just behind them, and as the shaking increased, she saw the door gleam. No, not gleam. Light up, in a bright red flash, all along the suspended base: a warning. 

The last teen, the one who’d given her cheek, was nearly there, nearly under it, as she saw the door begin to slam shut. Rose dove for him, tackling him before he could be crushed. She shielded his head with her arms and took the fall on her side, the sandy, rocky ground crunching beneath her and sending hot, shooting pains through her hip. The quaking intensified. Candelabras fell and extinguished in the damp sand, leaving the room in darkness save the door’s flashing lights.

She sat up, grabbed the teen’s arm, and yelled, pulling him towards a nook in the cave. He scooted back into the recess and they huddled as stalactites crashed to the ground. Through the dim red lights from the door, she could just make out the silhouettes of the boy and his mother in another recess.

It felt like forever, but finally, the earth calmed. Rose stood, hobbling over to the lights at the door. She pressed her hand to it, but she knew pushing wouldn't make a bit of difference. 

“Rose!” The Doctor’s unmistakable, unidentifiable voice rang, muffled, through the door. “Are you all right?” 

“Yeah,” she shouted back, hoarse. “I’m fine. Can you get the door open?” 

She thought she heard the sonic’s buzzing, but it was hard to tell over the loud ringing in her ears. There was no reply for several long seconds. 

“Doctor?” 

“Rose.” His voice was barely loud enough to hear. “It’s deadlock sealed.”


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to crazygirlne and rointheta for betaing! :) Your hard work is always appreciated. By me. Y'know.

Rose pressed her palm to the heavy metal door. There were two options, here: either the cave was airtight, and sooner or later they’d suffocate, or it wasn’t, and they’d be drowned when the tsunami hit. Unless the Doctors got them out. 

The faint flashing lights above provided only enough illumination for her to see her hand; when she turned to look over her shoulder, she couldn’t see even an outline of the others in the room. Still, she felt their eyes on her, like heat on the back of her neck. She heard the sniffles of the little boy, and his mother hummed, soothing him. The teen was silent. 

Then there was a thump on the door, like a fist pounding in frustration. 

“Doctor? What’s happening?” Rose asked, throat scratchy

“Why they’d put a _ship’s_ security door at the entrance of a dead-end cave.” His voice was loud, even muffled through the thick metal between them. 

“Can’t you just bring the TARDIS in here?” Rose asked in an awkward half-yell.

“It’s too risky---It could be done--If we miss by even an _hour_ \--”

It hit her that she was talking to both of them. 

“--It could be too late, and we don’t have any idea what it’s like inside--”

“Rose, can it fit the TARDIS--”

“That’s out of the question--” 

“Let her answer!” 

They both went silent. Rose cleared her throat. 

“There was plenty of room, but there’s pews all about,” she said. “Think you’d manage if you landed up on the altar.” 

“I won’t risk it,” said one Doctor.

“We won’t miss,” the other said. 

“No, we won’t. Because we won’t dematerialise.” 

“You’re being--”

“ _Not_ unless we have to. Last resort.” 

“Don’t trust our own driving, is that it?” 

“Not with her life, I don’t.”

“Oi!” Rose said. “How much time have we got?” 

“Half an hour? Not much.” Another thwack on the door. “But enough to try to get you out without using the TARDIS.”

“Then what’re we gonna do?” Rose asked. 

“The door’s probably got some battery supply,” one Doctor said. “Ever shaken up a dead battery to make it work a little longer? The quake activated the ship’s old security protocols, and the door came down, just like it was designed to--”

“So switch off the security protocols, then,” Rose said. “There’s got to be a way.” 

“We can’t open it by force. And it’s not -- It’s not just flipping an actual switch. It's more like... _communicating_ with the switch.” 

“So do that, then,” Rose said. 

“Yes, well, there’s more to it than that.”

“We just need to--”

The other Doctor’s voice rang, slightly farther away, interrupting the first. “--If we can triangulate the energy signal, we can transmit a frequency that will disable the security protocols. Then we’ll be able to lift the door manually with the pulley they’ve set up.” 

“How are you going to do that?” Rose asked. 

“Oh! No. Wait. Yes! Oh!” one Doctor yelled, and she pictured him, hands mussing his hair, face a picture of exhilaration and stress and hope all rolled into one. 

“I’ll work the console,” a Doctor said. 

“ _Carefully_.” The other had that touch of mania in his tone, that familiar flair that meant his plan was just crazy enough to work. 

“Rose! Remember the ghosts? The Cybermen? Ghostbusters?” 

It took a second for her mind to catch up. “You can use that thing? With the hosey bits and the--” 

“Oh, yes!” she heard from outside the door. “One of me inside the TARDIS, one of me out here, both of us calibrating the signal. Won’t take long!” 

“Anything I can do in here?” 

“Stand back and batten down the hatches! Going to get the cable; be right back!” 

She couldn’t hear his footsteps as he ran away, but the silence on the other side of the door seemed starker, and she knew he was gone. Now that things were quiet, she really felt how much her hip was hurting from when she’d landed on it before. She was glad she wasn’t in her usual jeans. The material of her knickers and flimsy dress aggravated the stinging, throbbing pain, even though nothing about her outfit was the least bit tight. She felt wretched, really. Her ears were ringing, too, from the crashing of rocks and candelabras and--

Candelabras! 

“Do you have any matches?” Rose asked, turning toward the others in the cave and hoping they saw her in the flashing lights of the door. 

“Matches?” That was the mother, over at the recess on the opposite wall. 

“Or a lighter,” Rose said. “Fire of some kind? I think I can grope around and find a candle or two. Get them lit again. And then we can make sure you’re all right. It’s pitch black in here.” 

“I-- I might-- Yes, here, in my hand. Can you find me?” The woman kept her voice quiet, soothing, as the boy sniffled. Rose moved toward her, each step a measured, tentative touch of her toes to the ground. 

On the way, Rose nearly tripped over something jagged, but she also felt her ankle brush up against something metal, and she hoped it was the base of the candelabra. She grabbed it, finding it empty at the ends, but when she felt around on the ground next to it, she managed to find a long, waxy candle. 

Drying the wick on the bottom of her dress, she managed to find the woman, who was singing softly to her son, serving the dual purposes of soothing him and giving Rose a sound to follow. 

“I’m here,” Rose said, when she was close. 

Fumbling in the dark, she reached forward, finding the woman’s outstretched hand. The woman pressed a book of matches into Rose’s, and Rose squeezed her hand in thanks as she grabbed them. 

It took a few tries, fumbling and cursing with the matchbook, and Rose wasn’t sure the wick was entirely dry, but finally she got it. The light flared up, and she held onto the match as well, until it was close to burning her finger and she blew it out. The light stung her eyes, but after a few seconds of adjustment, she pointed it at the mother and son. 

“Hello,” she said. 

The little boy peeked up from his mother’s sleeve and looked at her. Rose waved. 

“Better with a little light already, yeah? I’m going to go find a few more candles, and everyone can have one. But you have to promise to be careful, mind the fire, or let your mum hold it for you. How’s that?” 

The boy didn’t speak, shoving his face back into his mother’s shoulder, but even in the dim light she saw his red-rimmed eyes were drying. 

It was quick work to find the other candles, and Rose took the opportunity to look her companions over for any obvious injury as she handed out the candles. Everyone looked all right, but it was a bit hard to tell.

“What’re your names?” Rose asked. 

“Jeremiah,” the teen said dully.

“Mary,” said the woman, “and this is Michael.” 

“Oh, bible names, yeah? Those’re lovely. I’m Rose. My friends are going to get us out of here. They know a way to get the door open again. Is everyone all right? Anyone hurt?” 

“No,” Jeremiah said. 

“We’re fine as well. All of us. Thanks to you,” Mary said. “How did you know what was coming?” 

Jeremiah shuffled around, moving towards the others, and sat by Mary and Michael, the shadows on his skin making his eyes look even wider. 

“We’re here doing research. My friend’s equipment showed a seismographic disturbance.” 

“How are they going to get us out of here?” Jeremiah asked. “The entire _point_ of that door is that it won’t open-- we’re basically as good as--”

“ _Jeremiah_ ,” Mary said. “Mind what you say in front of Michael.” 

He switched the candle to his other hand, put his head in his hand. “Sorry, Miss Mary.”

“Thank you, Jeremiah.” 

Rose moved back towards the door, pressing her palm to it again. Now, she kept an eye on them, the light of the candles casting a soft glow around their faces. 

“Rose?” The Doctor banged his side of the door.

“Doctor!” 

“How’re you holding up in there?” 

“Good.” She bit her lip. “Managed to light some candles, so we can see now.”

“Ohhh, ‘course you did. Brilliant.” Two more thwacks, and she pictured him patting the door fondly. “You hold tight while we fire this thing up. You’ll be out in a tick!” 

“I’m countin’ on that.” 

“One thing though, really, just-- one tiny, small thing, and it probably won’t come to that, but I want to make sure you appreciate the seriousness of this request, should it arise.” 

“What’s that?” 

“If I tell you to stop responding, you do it. All right?” 

“Yeah.” She exhaled. “Yeah, s’fine.” 

She heard a low grunt, and then a buzzing started up. 

“Not going to ask me why, then?” 

“No, don’t need to,” Rose said, smiling. “You’re saying you want to preserve the uncertainty of my timeline on this side of the door, so in case things go wrong, you’ll be able to come get me with the TARDIS in here without knowing you didn’t come get me in here.” 

“Rose Tyler,” he said, and she heard the pride in his voice. “Listen to you. Full-blown time traveling expert, you are.” 

“Yeah, thanks, had lots of time to learn.” She leaned on the door, folding her arms, and the buzzing got louder. 

It didn’t matter - really, it didn’t - but she couldn’t help wondering which Doctor she was talking to. He was definitely the one who wanted the TARDIS to be a backup plan - the one who was half-manic in his desire to get that door open, rather than assured, but, really, she wasn’t quite sure which of him was the one more likely to react that way. Which, really, showed how similar they still were. The Doctor could be calm, measured, and self-certain, or he could turn fierce, half-crazed… There was no real way to know.

Except… The Doctor in brown had been so aloof. Had barely looked at her, till recently. Only just started talking to her like he was the Doctor and she was Rose. 

So she was probably talking to Blueberry, then. That suited her fine. Better, even. Less awkward. 

“Rose?” the Doctor asked. 

“Yeah?” 

“Tell me if you hear a click, all right? Or… a ticking. Or a beep. Or if the lights stop flashing. Or--”

“How about I just tell you if anything changes over here, yeah?” 

“Sounds good.” 

He stopped talking. After a moment, she heard a thunk, and then the buzzing got even louder.

“Anything?” he asked.

“Not sure. I heard a thunk.” 

“No, that was me.” He sounded tense. “Now?”

“No.” She pressed her hand uselessly to the door. “Everything all right?” 

“I can’t-- quite--” Another thunk, this one louder, like he was hitting something. “And _he’s_ not being any help.” 

“Oh, are you-- with the telepathy thing?” 

There was a pause. “Yes. I can-- well. It’s been getting easier. How about--” A crash. “Now? Nothing?” 

Rose threw a nervous glance behind her at the others. They were staring at her with rounded, wide eyes, all three of them. 

“No. Sorry, Doctor.” 

“Right. Fine. That’s fine.” She heard a scraping noise. “Still. Now might be a good time to--” 

“Yeah. I’ll stop talking for now. But you’ll get it. I know you will. Good luck, Doctor.” She bit her thumb, picturing him on the other side of the door. At least the bloody thing wasn’t white. 

She turned, sighing in frustration, and found her way back to the others, the dim candlelight providing enough illumination for her to watch her step. She crouched down when she got to them. 

“We need to be ready to move quickly, yeah?” she whispered, attempting a reassuring smile. 

“Doesn’t sound like it’s going that well,” said Jeremiah, and though he was aiming for petulant, his voice shook. 

“There’s no one I’d trust more,” Rose said. “Few more minutes. Promise.” 

She had that over-sensitive feeling, like the slightest sound was moving straight from her ears to her heart and stomach, causing a jolt every time she heard something outside. She was ready for the screeching of the door or the groan of the TARDIS. Even though her hip was hurting, it made her legs twitch to sit still. 

But she couldn’t pace, couldn’t let the excess energy tear through her, not when she had three innocent people watching. 

Finally, the buzzing transitioned into a sharp, prolonged beep, and she heard the Doctor’s “YES!” from outside the door. Then, the door croaked as he pulled on the rope outside. 

“Rose! Get ready!” he yelled. 

“All right, here goes,” Rose said, smiling at the others. “Let’s get ready to run out of here, yeah? Quick as we can.” 

She extended her hand, first to Jeremiah, who grabbed it and pulled himself up, and then to Mary. 

“All right?” she asked. They nodded, Jeremiah standing on shaky legs, and Mary holding Michael close to her, his arms wrapped around her neck.

“Safe to go through, Doctor?” she yelled when the gap was large enough. She couldn’t see him at all through the gap. 

“Quickly!” he yelled. 

“Come on,” she said, trying to remain calm though her heart was pounding. “There’ll be a blue box outside. That’s where we’re going. Inside. There’re cables extending from here to the box, so just follow those. Go ahead; I’ll be right behind you.” 

Mary left first, crouching down low and guarding Michael’s head against her chest. Jeremiah was next and Rose followed closely, breathing in deep as she was met with warm, fresh air. 

As soon as she was out, the Doctor grabbed her hand, tugging her towards the TARDIS. 

“Run. Now. Don’t look, just run,” he said. 

“What--” She looked out towards the sea and gasped. The sea bed was empty, fish flapping, piles of seaweed exposed to the sun, like a humongous sandbar had just appeared. Mary and Jeremiah had the good sense to head towards the TARDIS as she’d told them, but they looked over their shoulders as they ran, faces astonished. 

Shaking her head to clear it, Rose turned away from the spectacle, pumping her legs fast, but making sure to keep behind the others. They were almost to the TARDIS when Rose heard a sound like a freight train, all screeching, pounding momentum. Jeremiah was already inside, but Mary turned, gaping at the sea.

The wave was towering, tremendous, and moving so, so fast. 

“In, in, in!” the Doctor said, and, releasing Rose’s hand, launched towards Mary in a way that made her give a little yelp and scramble inside with her son. 

He stood in the doorway and ushered Rose inside, grabbing for the cables and tossing them out onto the sand before slamming the door behind him. She had just enough time to see the wave pummeling towards them, at least fifty feet high, when the door closed. Then, they dematerialised.

She’d just begun to register _how many_ people were in the TARDIS - which was rocking quite perilously through the dematerialisation sequence, sending people bumping into one another - when something slammed into her, squeezing her tight into a hug and lifting her. The Doctor. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him back, laughing. 

“That was too close,” he said, and let out a deep sigh. 

He squeezed her tighter and put her down, still hugging her. She closed her eyes and enjoyed that warm, blooming joy reserved for the moment after saving the day. There was nothing else in the universe like that. 

When they broke apart a moment later, she smoothed her hands over the outsides of his arms, rubbing out the wrinkles from their hug, and only then did it register. He was wearing brown. 

Brow furrowed, she let her eyes move slowly up from his arms to his face, and found him looking at her with such intensity that she wasn’t sure what to say. 

“All right?” he asked. 

“Um. Yeah, think so.” She cleared her throat. “Hip’s a little sore, but nothing a paracetamol won’t fix.” 

He sniffed and nodded at her, looking her up and down once, and then she felt a tap on her shoulder, and the Doctor in brown moved towards the console, joining his counterpart for the landing sequence. 

“I owe you a debt of gratitude,” said the woman behind her, and Rose turned to find the priest, her purple robes rumpled and creased. 

“Nah,” Rose said, smiling widely. She placed a hand on the priest’s shoulder and squeezed. “I owe you. You didn’t even know who I was and you listened. I couldn’t’ve done it without you.” 

“All right, everyone!” yelled the Doctor in blue from the console. “It’s about to get a bit rocky, so hold onto something! Preferably something attached to the flooring, though your mate will do in a pinch!”

Rose laughed, grabbing the rail, and let out a deep breath, enjoying the feel of the adrenaline dispersing in her arms and thighs. She imagined another voice, yelling with joy, everybody lives!

\---

There were plenty of trees on the other side of the mountains. A river ran through the center of the flatlands, providing easy access to food and water. It was, really, quite a lovely place for a settlement. 

They dropped off the townspeople in the center of the flatlands and, as the townspeople left, every person shook each of their hands, thanking them profusely. Rose pulled Jeremiah and Mary into hugs when they attempted to shake her hand and Michael, not needing to be told, launched himself into her arms as she crouched down. 

With a final wave from the doorway of the TARDIS, they were gone. 

\---

One shower, two pain relief capsules, and a change into jim-jams later, and Rose was a new woman. 

While the water had streamed over her, soothing the aches in her muscles and washing the salt off her skin, all she could think about was the Doctor in brown. _He_ was the one who’d been panicked. Who’d been so flatly against taking the TARDIS inside the cave, in case they missed. Who’d told her to run. Who’d hugged her like he used to, before. 

It was boggling. It was… _them_ , properly them, in a way they hadn’t been since   
the Doctor in blue had arrived. Imagining the Doctor in brown being himself again was exhilarating and scary and filled Rose with such sharp want that she forced herself to lie down on her bed and practice some breathing exercises. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there was a knock at her door a few minutes later. 

“Come in,” she said, and sat up, smoothing her throw blanket over her lap and looping a stray strand of wet hair behind her ear. 

The Doctor opened the door a smidgen and ducked his head inside. Collar of a white t-shirt, no suit jacket. Rose frowned, unsure who she was looking at, until he pushed the door open a little farther and she saw his blue trousers. 

“May I?” he asked when he got to the edge of her bed. She nodded, and he sat down on its edge, fiddling with the tassel at the end of the throw blanket. 

“You were amazing,” he said, shooting her a smile. “Really brilliant.” 

“Thanks,” she said, head ducked, looking up at him. “You weren’t so bad yourself.” 

“How’s your hip?”

“Oh. S’fine, I think. It was a little swollen, but I took a pain reliever.” 

“Good. That’s good.” 

A silence fell between them and Rose found her thoughts moving back to the other Doctor. She wanted… she wanted them all to be on an even footing. Finally. And if he was being normal again, maybe it was time. 

“Listen,” Rose said abruptly, “I think… The, um, the other Doctor. He seemed… He was…” 

“What?” 

“Normal?” Rose bit her lip.

“He was terrified, Rose. We both were.” 

She chuckled. “Suppose that’s normal for us, then.” 

He dropped the tassel, scooting closer, and scrutinised her. “What is it?” 

“Do you think he’s ready?” she asked, finding his eyes.

“Ready?” 

“C’mon, don’t be daft. You know what I mean. For…” She gestured awkwardly between them. “The thing I said. Us three.” 

He let out a long breath. “Dunno.” 

“Well, don’t you have some special insight?” She tried for a grin, but his expression was so analytical that it withered into nothing. 

“I don’t, really,” he said. “And even if I did, that’s his business to tell you.” 

“Yeah, no, I didn’t mean…” She stopped. Took a breath. “I just mean, you were in each other’s heads all day, and he was finally acting like… like you both used to, you know?” 

“Well, I honestly can’t say. He’s better at blocking things off than I am. Today all I got was -- well, he was panicked. And was telling me which frequencies to try,” he scoffed, “as though I didn’t know myself, smug bastard.” 

“He can talk to you? In his head?” 

“Yep. I can’t quite talk back, but…” He shifted, angling himself towards her. “Point is, I don’t know what he’s thinking. Wouldn’t tell you if I did, though. That other time-- that was a one-time thing.” 

“Yeah. That’s -- that’s fine. Sorry.” She toyed with the the blanket in her lap, looking at the far wall of her room. 

“What are you getting at, Rose?” He moved closer, placed his hand over hers. “There’s something else.” 

She swallowed. “I’m trying to make this fair, yeah? And I dunno what the hell I’m doing. And it’s hard, right?” 

“Just tell me.” 

“When I’m-- or, when I think he’s--” 

“What?” He squeezed her hand.

“Ready. When I think he’s ready, am I allowed to…” She felt her cheeks flushing and she pushed the words out in a jumble. “To, y’know. Kiss him. Or something.” 

“Oh,” he said around an airy breath. 

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t’ve -- I know you’ve been patient, and I’ve sort of put us on hold, and--”

“Yes,” he said. 

“Sorry?” 

“Yes. You can. Under one condition.” 

“What’s that?” 

“Once you’re on kissing terms with him, you’re on kissing terms with me too.” 

She let out a little laugh. “Absolutely.”

“Oh! And another condition. Two conditions.” 

“Yeah?” She looked up at him. 

“We talk about it before it goes any further than kissing.” 

“Yeah. Talking to you now, aren’t I? ‘Course I would.” 

They held each other’s gaze for a moment until Rose shook her head, a grin spreading across her face. 

“What?” he asked. 

“When’s this gonna get less weird?” 

He shifted, releasing her hand, and moving next to her until his back was against the headboard and his leg pressed along hers. “Never, I reckon.” 

“Right. Naturally.” 

“An embarrassment of riches,” he said, and nudged her in the arm with his shoulder. 

“One of you’s too much to handle. I dunno what I’m thinking,” she said, leaning her head on his shoulder. 

“Oi. I resemble that remark.” He nudged her again. 

“Shut up,” she said, and let her eyes fall shut.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you rointheta and aimtoallonsy/crazygirlne. Also, thanks scullywolf for the special guest beta!

“He isn’t!” Rose leaned forward, eyes widening, elbows sliding along the table in the galley. 

“He is!” the Doctor in blue said around a laugh and sat down next to her.

“No.” She looked at the other Doctor. His lips were pressed together as if he was holding back a smile. 

“‘Fraid so,” he said. 

“But how does he turn _into_ the Face of Boe?” She looked between the two men. They shrugged simultaneously. “Is he even aging? He looks the same and it’s been a hundred years for him!” 

“He is,” the Doctor in blue said. “Slowly, that’s all.”

“And,” the Doctor in brown moved over to the counter and plucked a banana from a freckled bunch on a hanger, “we saw him on New Earth in the year five billion and twenty-three. Think any sort of aging’s fair game in that timeframe.” 

“But-- He was a telepath!” Rose looped a strand of hair behind her ear. “He was-- he had no body! What happened to his body?” 

The Doctor in brown peeled the banana and took a quick bite, speaking with his mouth full. “Dunno!”

Rose tilted her head, considering. “Could we find out sometime?”

“When do you reckon we do that?” the Doctor in blue asked, crossing his legs and watching her with a warm, analytical look. 

“I dunno. Go see him sometime after Cassandra? Ask him what happened to his body? He has to know we’re us, right?”

The Doctor in brown looked up, expression pensive as he chewed. “Well, he certainly seemed to know me. But five billion years is a long time, Rose. Could be he just remembered us between Platform One and New Earth.” 

“But he-- You regenerated, in between. He recognised you.” 

“He’s a telepath. Or will be. Time Lords give off rather a specific mental signature, and I’m the only one out there.” He looked at the other Doctor. “Kind of. No offense. ‘Sides, I don’t remember him acting like he knew us on Platform One.” 

The Doctor in blue pressed a hand to his face, seeming to lose himself in thought for a second, and then two men exchanged a glance. “Well, could be he was just pretending not to. Still! I don’t think we should assume he remembers us from his time as Jack Harkness. Not by the time we meet him as the Face of Boe. He might, but then again…” He raised his eyebrows, looking up at the ceiling. “Sometimes old friends’ faces go fuzzy in _my_ mind, and it’s only been a few centuries.” 

Rose caught the Doctor in brown’s eyes and he quickly looked away, frowning, his dimple sticking out as he chewed. For once, she thought she knew what he was thinking, and she was trying just as hard not to imagine a few centuries from now, when she’d be dead - the other Doctor, too - and he’d barely remember her face. 

The Doctor in blue looked between them and seemed to catch on, eyes widening. “That is, for people we met once or twice. And -- and I was only saying that about Jack because I was taking into account the quality of _human_ memory.” He stuck a hand in his hair, his words speeding up. “Jack’s not pure human, of course. But mostly. Time Lord memory is quite a different thing. I just mean, there are people. Like, that, er... That waitress who brought us that Christmas pudding that made us sick during our second incarnation. Never had food poisoning, before or since, but then I probably shouldn’t’ve eaten it. It smelled like it’d gone off. _That_ I remember, but her face… Is fuzzy. Probably because we were sick all over the table. Anyway. I mean, like that. Not--” He gestured awkwardly. “Not people we _know_.” 

The Doctor in brown nodded, swallowing the last of his banana and tossing the peel effortlessly into the bin on the opposite wall. He leaned back against the counter. “Right. Well. Can’t tell you how wonderful it is to watch myself stick my foot in my mouth. Charming, really.”

“Better than watching myself stick my head up my own--”

“Oi!” The Doctor in brown pointed a finger at his counterpart. “Be nice.”

“We could go see him after Cassandra, right?” Rose asked, reaching forward and grabbing at a napkin at the centre of the table. She toyed with it, folding it and tugging at the edges. “After we saw him the first time, when he knows us already?” 

“Maybe,” the Doctor in brown said, pushing off the counter and moving towards the fridge, turning back to look at Rose. “Sandwich?” 

“Sure.” 

“Ham and cheese?” 

“Yeah.” 

“One for me too,” the Doctor in blue said. 

He scoffed. “ _You_ can make it yourself.” 

“Come on. You’ve got all the stuff out anyway. What’s one more?” 

“And you know just how he likes his, right?” Rose grinned. 

“Actually! I don’t like mustard anymore. Leave that off, will you? Thanks.” 

The Doctor in brown shook his head, letting out a sigh, and grabbed another plate from the cabinet.

“What was that, before?” Rose asked. “You were saying something else.”

“Right! I was. I was saying that while we could meet the Face of Boe between Platform One and New Earth, we definitely couldn’t after that. I -- well, we --” He indicated the other Doctor with the butter knife in his hand. “Only met him one more time after that. Here.” He took a few steps over to the table and placed the plate in front of her. 

“So after Platform One. That should work, right?” Rose asked, picking up one half of the sandwich and taking a small bite. “Mmm, that’s great, thanks. Just think we should figure this out at some point. I know I can’t live with that sort of mystery hanging over me.” 

“Oh, but I like a bit of mystery.” The Doctor in blue craned his neck, watching as the other started making the second sandwich. “That’s not enough ham.” 

“This is the perfect amount of ham. Maybe you can’t see it properly with your part-human eyes.” 

“I can see it perfectly well and you’ve put on two fewer slices than we normally do.” 

He pulled out three more slices, slapped them onto the bread, and plopped it onto a plate. “There.” 

“Ta,” the Doctor in blue said and winked at his counterpart, who grumbled something under his breath as he sat down in the free chair between the two. 

“Wait.” Rose put the sandwich back down on her plate and narrowed her eyes. “He’s immortal, yeah? Properly immortal.” 

“Well, as close as anyone can be to it, though he will die eventually,” the Doctor in blue said. 

“What if…” She scrunched her nose. “What if he got decapitated? He’d survive it, wouldn’t he? Even if they couldn’t put his head back on? Or if his body got destroyed?” 

“Oh,” the Doctor in brown said. “That is a definite possibility. Unless he can grow a new body. I’m not too sure on that.” 

“But if he couldn’t, would his head just... start growing?” Rose looked down at the remainder of her sandwich, feeling a little sick. 

“Oh! Maybe. _And_ , to compensate--” the Doctor in blue started.

“--He developed telepathy!” The other finished. “Like someone’s sense of hearing improving after they lose their eyesight.” 

“Oh, that is it! That has to be it. Well, that or the headless monks.” Looking satisfied, he took a huge bite of his sandwich. 

“You don’t have to sound so happy about it,” Rose said, frowning. 

“No, no, see, I am. Cause I was lying before. Hate mystery. Terribly glad to have figured it out.” 

She looked over at the Doctor in brown. “You too, then?” 

He shrugged, but she sensed the air of satisfaction coming off of him too.

“Okay.” She nodded, picking up her food again. “I’m going to finish my lunch and try to think about something less morbid.” 

“Well, it’s not, though, is it?” said the Doctor in blue. “He survives it and all. Seemed pretty at peace with being a gigantic head in a jar.” 

The Doctor in brown leaned forward and plucked half of his counterpart’s sandwich off his plate, biting into it before the other man could stop him. “Captain Jack Harkness is a touch cheesy. At least. But the Face of Boe? _Very_ enigmatic. And he can teleport. And, and! He’s some kind of celebrity, too. Jack is going to love that.” 

“You know, just because we used to be one person does not mean we each need to eat half as much food now,” the Doctor in blue said, glaring unconvincingly.

“Then get up and make yourself another. Probably need a bit of exercise now. Keep your lung capacity up. Can’t rely on respiratory bypass anymore, hm?” 

“Blimey, I _am_ rude, aren’t I?” The Doctor in blue looked over at Rose, but she couldn’t bring herself to smile.

“But what if he hated it at first?” Rose said instead, reaching for her glass of water. “When he was just a Jack Harkness head in a jar. Is it a fixed point? Could we warn him? ‘Watch out for beheadings’ - that sort of thing?” 

The Doctors looked at one another, faces identically sceptical, and held each other’s gazes for a beat. Then, they turned in tandem towards her. 

“Not when we’re already so intertwined with events that include the Face of Boe,” the Doctor in brown said, voice kind. 

“Yeah.” Rose sighed, took a long gulp of her water, and pushed her plate towards the Doctor in blue. “You can have the other half of mine, Doctor. Not so hungry anymore.” 

“Rose.” He placed his hand on her wrist as she pushed out her chair. “I wasn’t trying to--”

“No, it’s fine.” She smiled weakly at him. “Just done with lunch, is all. Thought I might go for a walk in the garden, maybe call my mum. Clear my head a bit.”

“You should finish your sandwich. Don’t let me stop you. Always running off at the mouth; don’t pay me any mind...” He stroked his thumb across her skin and she was torn between shaking his hand off and putting her hand over his. The other Doctor was _right there_. His thumb drew another slow path against her skin and butterflies spread in her stomach. She extracted her hand gently and gave his a pat. 

“It’s fine,” she repeated. “Really. Just feel bad for Jack, but I know there’s nothing we can do.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“No, don’t be.” She stood, and pain shot through her hip down into her leg, making her wince. Both men’s eyes narrowed and darted to her, scanning her up and down.

“Your hip still hurts?” the Doctor in brown asked.

“Yeah.” She bit her lip. “Just a bit sore. Nothing to worry about.” 

“It shouldn’t still be hurting.” 

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “It’s only been a day. I’m fine.” 

“Well!” The Doctor in brown pushed out his chair and got up, too. “If you’re fine then I’m sure you won’t mind stopping by the infirmary with me. Just to make sure.” 

“Doctor--” 

“It’s on the way to the garden. Won’t take but a mo.” 

A thrill shot through her, at the thought of the Doctor in brown actually going out of his way to interact with her, just the two of them. To help her. Because he was worried, and he cared. It muffled the stubborn part of her that wanted to insist she didn’t need any help. 

“Yeah, all right.” 

“Brilliant. Let’s go.” 

As Rose pushed her chair in behind her and began walking, fighting not to exhibit any visible discomfort, the Doctor moved towards the galley’s exit. 

“Since you didn’t have to lift a finger in actually preparing our lunch, how about you clean it up, hm?” He grinned brightly at the Doctor in blue, who looked between him and Rose, an expression on his face that was too carefully trained to actually be neutral.

“Yep!” he said, face breaking into a smile. “No problemo.” 

The Doctor in brown cringed. “I personally wouldn’t say that one ever again. But... Suit yourself. Rose?”

“Yeah,” she said, her stomach flipping as she followed him out of the galley. 

\---

Rose’s hand twitched, fingers curling reflexively around nothing as she walked towards the infirmary. They were close, nearly brushing shoulders, and the silence hung between them in a way that wasn’t quite awkward. More like tense. She was, at any rate. The pain kept her walking a little bit stiffly while she tried to hide her soreness. Somehow, the Doctor next to her was terribly foreign even though they’d walked down this corridor a thousand times before. 

The Doctor seemed much more comfortable, and she saw him glance her way with a puzzled sort of look. She was halfway to shoving her hand into her jeans pocket to stop her fidgeting when he grabbed it, and the feel of his hand was like an electrical charge rushing up her arm and zapping down low in her belly.

Looking straight ahead, she ignored the way her hand was clasped in his, his long fingers cupping the outside of her hand. Was her palm getting sweaty? Did it always get sweaty when they held hands? Why couldn’t she remember? It was definitely a little clammy now. 

As they stepped into the infirmary, he released her hand, indicating with a nod of his head that she should sit herself down on the examination table. Her breath sped up, and she sat down on it like a bench, not wanting to perch at the end like a real patient. 

It dawned on her, then, that she was nervous. Really, properly nervous to be alone with him, more now than when he’d been avoiding her. A walk to the infirmary didn’t even compare to regeneration and metacrisis and ménage à trois propositions. But when he looked at her from across the room, his brown eyes lingering on her face in a way that was somewhere between concern and outright study, her stomach flipped again. 

He pulled his glasses out of his pocket and slid them on as he studied the assortment of scanners on the sleek, stainless steel counter. Grabbing one of them, he stepped over to her, flipping it open and, after meeting her eye in a wordless warning, pressed it gently to her jean-clad hip. She hissed, fingers tightening against the cushion of the table, and he muttered an apology under his breath, pulling the device away from her. 

“No, it’s all right,” she said. “Go ahead.” 

“Are you bruised?” 

“Um, yeah. A bit.” 

He nodded tightly. “I’ll try to be gentler.” 

“Really, you just surprised me. I’m fine.” 

He frowned, reading the output, and didn’t bother with a reply before placing it down, pulling out the sonic, and buzzing her with that instead. 

With the way he was standing in front of her, she could lean her head on his shoulder if she wanted. She could slip an arm around his waist. He hovered closely enough that she could smell the scent of his soap and hair product, sweet and tangy and clean. It brought back memories of the embrace they’d shared the day before. Or before that, when one of him was both of him. He always smelled clean and sweet, no matter what sort of mess they’d got into. 

She swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut, and forced herself to focus. 

“You’re fine,” he said, and his voice was very low and quiet. “Just a bit swollen. I have a capsule that’ll help. Better than the pain tablets you have in your bathroom.” 

“Right. Thanks.” She stared at her shoes.

His movement away from her revealed itself in a breeze across her face and neck, cooling her warm cheeks. Her hip was barely noticeable now she was sitting, just a dull throb, and it made her feel silly, sitting here, when she was perfectly fine. He reappeared a few seconds later, a capsule in his hand. 

“Here. You don’t need any water for it; it’ll dissolve.” 

She plucked it out of his hand and popped it in her mouth, enjoying the distraction of the fruity flavour and fizz. He positioned himself next to her, standing, and leaned against the examination table, folding his arms and looking out in front of him. 

“I really don’t think you need to worry about Jack,” he said. “As the Face of Boe, he’s always seemed… very zen. Admirably zen, even.” 

“I know. You’re right. I just feel bad, him going on alone for so long.” Her heart leapt as her words circled back into her head and she realised what she’d said, but before she thought any harder, she pressed on. “Till he can hardly recognise himself... Till he doesn’t remember anyone he knew, before.” 

The Doctor was silent, and guilt spread in her stomach, cold and hot at the same time.

“I mean,” she said, faltering. “He also got to see so much. That’s amazing, when you think about it. Practically made it to the end of the universe, yeah? Billions of years… I mean... Assuming he was linear the whole time. Maybe he skipped a bit, if he got his vortex manipulator fixed. Suppose he’d’ve been able to fix it, by the time he got to the fifty-first century again. Maybe he just skips all round after that. No one did seem to know how old he was.” 

“I’m not going to forget you,” the Doctor said abruptly, staring straight ahead. 

“Oh.” 

“Just thought I should mention.” 

“Yeah,” she said. “Thanks.”

“Better?” He turned his head towards her, his chin tucking near his shoulder. 

“What?” 

“Your hip. Is it any better?” 

“I dunno,” she said, and shifted on the examination table until she faced him. It didn’t hurt much, scooting like that. “Yeah. Think so.” 

“That’s cause you needed an anti-inflammatory, too. Your tablets were just analgesic.” 

“I actually thought of that,” she said, and gave him a grin with a bit of tongue in it. “Had some first aid classes, you may remember. But I iced it last night. It seemed fine. Didn’t wanna come in here, really. Feels like a whole big thing when you go to the infirmary, y’know?” 

“Well, if you’d gone yesterday, you might not have a ‘whole big thing’ now. Namely, that bruise,” he said, stretching out the ‘u’.

“Mmm, you’re right. Thank you, _Doctor_.”

He turned a little more, looking down at her. From this position, she found she had to peer upwards to see his eyes. His face was so close she could count the freckles on the bridge of his nose. She started: one, two, three, four. Her eyes went crossed as she reached ten. 

“What are you doing?” he asked, a smile curling across his face. When she looked up at him, his eyes were crinkled, and she couldn’t help smiling in return. 

“Um.” She bit her lip. “Was just looking at your freckles.”

“My freckles?” 

“Yeah. They’re cute.” She met his eyes, feeling bold. His gaze softened, and her cheeks warmed up in response. 

“ _Cute?_ ” 

“Yeah, cute.” 

“Well, you’d gone cross-eyed.” He laughed. “So that makes one of us, then.” 

She leaned closer to him, tilting her head up. She let her eyes slip shut, pressed her palm to his cheek and then she kissed him, lips dry and warm and gentle as they met his. She felt him inhale, nearly a gasp, but he didn’t move. She held her breath, pressing closer and moving her lips slowly, giving him time to adjust. 

He was still. Unresponsive. It was like being doused in cold water, the way humiliation sliced through her. She opened her eyes and found his were, also. Now they were far too close, his gaze full of pity. She dropped her hand. Shifted away. 

“Rose--” 

“Sorry.” Her eyes started to sting and she bit the inside of her mouth to stop it. “You’re not ready. That’s fine.” 

He pushed off the examination table, putting space between them, and stood in front of her, folding his arms. 

“You’re right,” he said. “I’m not. I’m not ready.” 

“Yeah.” She nodded, looking down at the floor. 

“And I may never be ready. You need to understand that.” 

Her heart dropped and she glanced up at him sharply, her throat tightening until she could barely swallow. 

“I thought--” She felt a tear slip down her cheek and she rushed to wipe it away, ignoring the sad, knowing look on his face. 

“Rose, I’m sorry. But I -- I just don’t know.” 

“No, don’t. I’m-- I’m the one who’s sorry. It’s fine. Um.” She hopped off the table, nearly stumbling from the sharp pain as she landed on her feet. She scrambled away when he leaned into support her. “I’m gonna go. Thanks, for that capsule. I feel loads better.” 

She sensed his eyes burning into her, but she didn’t take hers off the floor as she fled the room.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to rointheta, crazygirlne(aimtoallonsy), and scullywolf. :)

Rose fled down the corridor, eyes on the floor, doing her best to hold back the tightening at the back of her throat and the burning in her eyes. The walls and doors rushed by her in a blur, and she was halfway back to her room before she realised, no, that wasn’t right. The other Doctor had that habit of appearing every time she was alone, like he had some bloody alert in his head, and she couldn’t. Not now.

Speeding up, she passed her own bedroom and turned a corner, forcing herself not to think. She arrived at a dead end. The corridor was dark, but it still felt exposed, and it wasn’t enough. Secluded enough, open enough, far enough away. There was a door, so she pushed it open, stepping inside and realising only after she shut it behind her that she’d somehow wound up in the room with the swimming pool. 

It was dim and quiet and the overhead lights were dark. Instead, a green glow, like that in the console room and the corridors, seemed to spring from everywhere and nowhere at once. She stepped to the edge of the pool and sat down, wrapping her arms around her knees, watching the water sightlessly. 

She was stupid to think this could work. Really, properly stupid. 

The thought picked up momentum, mounting in intensity, until it crashed over her, and a sudden sob wrenched its way out of her throat. She buried her head in her knees and let the tears come, curling herself into a little ball, stifling the sound of it like she’d done so many times before when she wanted no one to hear, even though now there was nobody around.

Long moments later, she forced her sobs to fade into sniffles and rubbed a hand across her forehead. A headache was setting in. Always did, after a cry. She wanted to get away. Off the TARDIS, where she was outnumbered by confusing, identical, worlds-different men. But the thought of seeing Jack again now sent embarrassment prickling through her. He’d made it sound so easy. 

An idea bloomed in her mind and she stretched out her legs, jamming a hand into her pocket and finding her mobile. She input the numbers quickly, tapping her fingers on her leg as the line rung. 

“Rose! Is that you?” Her mum’s voice spread through her like warmth. She fought back another round of tears at the simultaneous wave of relief and fresh sadness.

“Hi Mum.” She held her hand over the microphone and sniffled. 

“How are you, sweetheart?”

“Good. I’m good.” She tried to make it sound convincing. 

“When’re you coming by for a visit? We just had the decorator in. Fixed you a room right up, just like your old one, so you don’t have to stay in that daft box when you come.” 

Rose failed to hold back a laugh. Sniffing again, she wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“It’s very modern, our new house,” Jackie continued. “The decorator did a lovely job. Minimalist, she called it. But we’ve made sure to watch the corners, for Tony, see. This house isn't big enough for all that posh nonsense, not like the old one, but I think this suits me better, to be honest. Your dad’s got those airs and graces, living rich for so long, but not me.” 

“Yeah,” Rose said, cradling the mobile between her shoulder and her ear. 

“What’s wrong, love?” 

“Nothing,” she said. “Just miss you, that’s all.” 

“Are you sure you’re all right, sweetheart? Are you hurt? Is one of the Doctors--?” 

“We’re fine. Everything’s fine.” 

“Rose…” Her mum’s voice dropped in volume, taking on that comforting cadence she’d used when Rose was small. “You may be able to fool them aliens, but you can’t fool me.” 

“Yeah.” She laughed. “Should’ve figured.”

“I just want to help, love.”

Rose let silence stretch for a few seconds, before saying abruptly, “Can I come for a visit?” 

“Of course,” Jackie said, still cautious and comforting. “‘Course you can. Come ‘round for lunch, how’s that? I’ll see what I’ve got in.” 

“Yeah. That’d be great. I’ll see you soon.” 

Rose pressed the ‘end’ button, staring down at the phone. She felt a bit tired, now. Like she didn’t have it in her to cry anymore, but didn’t have it in her to do much else either. Still, if she let herself sit any longer, she’d never get up. 

Slipping the mobile back into her pocket and pushing up off the floor, Rose took a deep breath, heading back towards the corridor. 

\--

She sat at the kitchen table for six minutes before the Doctor in blue reappeared. He strolled in casually, like he had some reason besides her to be in there, even though they’d all just eaten. Then again, this one did seem to eat more often. 

Something about the careful way in which he _didn’t_ look at her as he moved towards the refrigerator and grabbed a fizzy drink struck her as darkly funny. He was so tuned into her, cared so much, was ready to take things wherever she liked… The contrast between the two of them was difficult to take right now. 

It was easy to tell when he finally noticed the state she was in. He turned around and looked at her straight on. His curious, cautious expression turned into one of wide-eyed worry. He scanned her, up and down, eyes settling on her face as he sat down in the chair next to her.

“Are you all right?” he asked, his concerned tone laced with something darker. “What did he--”

“What,” she laughed mirthlessly, “that obvious?” 

He had the decency to look sheepish. “A bit.”

She struggled to smile, looking down at her knotted hands on the table. “I’m not-- I don’t really want to-- Talk. About that. With-- with you. Sorry.” 

“Yeah. ‘Course.” He sniffed, rubbed a hand across his face. 

“I mean, not… it’s not a secret,” she said, feeling guilty. “I can tell you later. It just… you’re too… close? For right now.” 

“‘Course.” He ran a hand through his hair, eyes across the room. “What do you say: Jack again?”

“No, uhm. I was wondering if you might…” She fidgeted, toying with her twined fingers. 

“Anything.” He smiled, encouraging her.

“...Take me for a visit to my mum?” 

He scrunched up his nose. “Correction: almost anything.” 

Her heart dropped in her chest, expression faltering, and his eyes bulged in response. “No, sorry, only joking! Trying to lighten the mood. Yes. Of course. Now? Is now good?” 

Embarrassment flooded her and she rubbed at her eyes, laughing despite herself. “Yeah. Sorry.” 

He stood. “All right, Rose Tyler. One trip to the family, coming right up!” 

\-- 

Without the other Doctor, the TARDIS produced the same rocky ride Rose was used to, and she pressed the buttons she was usually assigned - before she’d been stranded - whilst holding on for dear life. When the last of the shudders faded and the Time Rotor settled into a dim glow, Rose spared a quick glance at the Doctor, smiling in gratitude, before moving to the door. 

“It’s a week after we were here last.” 

“Thanks.” 

“Do you want me to come along?” he asked. 

She furrowed her brow. “Thought you didn’t want to hang ‘round my mum.” 

“It was just a joke, Rose. It’s been a long time, since I’ve had anyone to…” He cleared his throat. “It’d be nice to… get out. Have a visit that doesn’t end in a near-death experience. Hopefully. Depending on your mother, I suppose. And I haven’t really spent any time with Tony, have I? And he’s your brother. I just--”

“Yeah.” She smiled, and this time it felt genuine. “Come on, then.” 

She led the way, stepping outside, and found herself in the wide, spacious living room. It didn’t look all that different from last time - tasteful art hanging in frames on the walls, a new dining set. Before she analysed the differences the decorator had made any further, she caught some motion out of the corner of her eye just in time to for Tony to come barreling into her from the side. 

“Oi,” she said as she staggered back. “Give a girl some warning, would you?” 

“Rose!” He grinned up at her. “Mummy said you were coming for lunch! She made sandwiches!”

She dropped down to a crouch and pulled him in for a big hug, letting the smile tugging at her lips spread across her face as she closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her mum was across the room watching them. 

“All right, Tony,” Jackie said, eyes shifting between the boy and the Doctor, who was next to Rose. “Give your sister some room to breathe, there’s a good boy.” 

Tony looked up at Rose very seriously. “I have to show you my video game.” 

Rose nodded, just as solemn. “After I talk to Mummy for a while, okay?” 

“Which one are you, then?” Jackie asked, eyeing the Doctor with open scepticism.

“Er…”

“Mum!” 

“No, it’s fine,” he said. “The new one. Well, newer.” She continued to stare at him. “The part-human one.” 

“Right,” Jackie said. “As I thought. Can you mind Tony for me whilst I talk to Rose? Pete’s out right now.” 

“Yeah.” He nodded, clearly trying to look particularly agreeable. “Been wanting to get to know the littlest Tyler.” 

“That right?” Jackie narrowed her eyes. 

“Of course! What do you say, Tony? I’m the Doctor. It’s nice to meet you. Officially. Mind showing me your video game first?” Rose watched as the Doctor stooped down, smiling encouragingly at Tony. 

Tony grinned back at him. “Yeah. It’s got racecars.” 

“What do you know. I am absolutely, positively _the_ biggest racecar fan on this side of the Grand Prix de France.” 

“What’s that?” 

“It’s a race. Well, was a race. In France. Which is where you live now, did you know?”

“C’mon, Rose.” Jackie said, pulling her away even as her eyes chased after them. “Got a nice cuppa for you in the kitchen.” 

\--

“Spill,” her mother said when they were seated. “What’s he gone and done?”

The kitchen had one of those peninsula countertops with two barstools tucked in. The hot cups of tea formed a steamy haze on the granite, and Rose wiped at it idly with one finger. 

“You’re going to say I’m daft,” Rose said. 

“Why would I go and do that? You’re not daft. And, for that matter, neither am I. I know you wouldn’t’ve come here if you didn’t want to talk about it.” 

“S’just been confusing. Living with two of the same person.” Rose picked up her tea and took a sip. Her mother stared at her and Rose looked right back. They were silent for several long seconds. 

“It’s not him,” she said, finally. “It’s the other one.”

“Fine, then. What’s the other one gone and done? Must be bad, the way he’s hiding in that box of his.” 

“Um. I kissed him?” Rose worried her lip. She was too hyper-aware of her mother’s impending reaction for the sadness from earlier to seep in again. 

“Is that all? Then what’re you doing out here with this one?” 

Rose took a deep breath, then let it out, and picked up her cuppa, hiding half her face with it. “Oh boy. Okay. So. I love them both, right? Cause they’re both the Doctor. And they’re both here. I came so far to get back to him. And I don’t want to leave either of them. And so I told them that, and that if they wanted to -- to be with me, that I want to be with them, and--” 

“Them?” 

“--And so he’s -- the one in blue, he’s ready, yeah? And I thought maybe they both were, but then the other one-- he’s not, and I can’t really choose one over the other, and--” 

“Them, Rose?”

She raised her eyes, feeling like a deer in headlights. “Yeah.”

They stared at one another. 

Jackie burst into laughter, shaking her head. “Are you out of your mind? One of him’s one too many.” 

“Mum--”

“What’s wrong with just being with this one, if he’s ready and all?”

“I don’t want to leave either of them alone. I love them both; they’re both the Doctor.” 

“And you’re upset because the old one’s not cooperating?”

“I’m upset because he’s been weird, practically since I got back, and he finally warmed up and was back to normal, and then I screwed it all up.”

“How’s you kissing him screwing it up? Isn’t that what he wants?” 

“It’s what this one wants.” She nodded towards the lounge. “But the other one, he said he’s not ready. He may never be ready…” She scoffed. “He doesn’t want me, more like.” 

“Course he does, Rose. They ain’t that different. But maybe he doesn’t wanna be an add-on."

"No, I know. I know. I didn't mean that. I'm just--"

"You’ve got a man right here. Maybe you can’t have everything, hm?” 

There was the unmistakable sound of Tony screech-laughing and stomping through the house at a run, followed by the sound of the Doctor letting out a yell. Jackie raised an eyebrow. A second later, the Doctor ran by the doorway, and Tony followed, in close pursuit, holding a foam sword.

“It doesn’t make any sense, waiting on two people, does it?”

Rose didn’t answer. 

“And how can you make that work anyway? Have two relationships? With the same man? That’s bonkers, that is.”

Rose ignored the prickling behind her eyes.

“If you ask me, you should stay with this one.”

Rose swallowed against the tightening in her throat.

“Something more open about him, isn’t there? Not so… alien.”

Rose sniffed once, twice.

“Not sure he would’ve come in here, playing son-in-law, entertaining Tony, before.” 

“But that doesn’t mean he didn’t want to!” Rose said fiercely, surprising herself. She blinked several times, trying to stop her eyes from welling up. 

Jackie’s gaze moved to Rose’s face and her breath caught, her expression going from shrewd to remorseful. “Oh, sweetheart. I’m sorry.” 

Rose put the tea back on the table and squeezed her eyes shut, willing herself to stop before she started crying again, full on. When she opened them again, Jackie was standing in front of her and pulled her into a hug. It took Rose a moment to react and then she wrapped her arms around her mother. 

“Sorry, love. Anyone can see that man’s always been dotty over you. Both of them, hm? _And_ the first one, with the ears. ‘Course you don’t wanna leave him alone.” 

Rose forced herself to take deep breaths, to ignore the pressing need to let more tears fall. She’d have to see the Doctor again, and he’d notice her red-rimmed eyes. And it wasn’t his fault -- not either of him, really -- that this was so hard. 

Her mum stroked her hair, curling the loose ends around her fingers and smoothing them out again. “Dunno what I’d do if it were me.”

“What?” Rose pulled back, looking up at Jackie. 

“If it was two Petes. My first one and my second one. Or two of either, I suppose. Love both of them, I do, but they’re different too. I don’t reckon I could leave one behind either.” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m not saying it would be easy, mind. Dealing with them both. Figuring out how to live with two versions of the same man. How to communicate. How to figure the differences between them. Normal relationships are hard, and that’s proper weird, it is.” 

“I know. It is, isn’t it.” 

“But I can’t blame you for wanting to try. ‘Sides, when have you ever been normal? Not my Rose. Always been extraordinary.” 

She shook her head, plopping her elbows onto the counter and putting her head in her hands. “I’m not sure this is gonna work.” 

“No one’s ever sure anything’s gonna work.” Jackie smiled. “But you stand a better chance than most. They both love you. You’ll see. Just be patient with him. The man’s got more baggage than a jumbo jet.” 

Rose smiled and dove back in, hugging her mum, squeezing her tight until she let out an ‘oof.’ Her mum was right. It was bonkers, and Rose had no idea whether she had any reason to hope for the other Doctor to come around. But hearing that her mum understood, that helped on its own. It was enough for Rose to blink back her tears.

“Go easy on an old lady, Rose,” she said, but she squeezed Rose back.

“You’re not old, mum.”

“No. I’m not, am I? Showed Adrienne from around the corner a picture of us; she thought we were sisters.” She pulled back and grinned, cheeky. “How ‘bout that sandwich? Egg mayo? Crisps, too? Maybe a pickle?” 

Rose grimaced. “Oh, no, ta. I’ve just eaten. And it was a sandwich, too.” 

“How about some cheesy toast? A compromise.” 

Rose sighed. “If you must.” 

“You can share a piece with your brother if you’re not hungry enough for the whole thing. Humour me.” 

“Just make the Doctor eat it. They’ve been nicking food from one another and now I think they’re both going hungry.” 

Jackie laughed and pulled Rose in for another hug. 

\--

Pete arrived back just in time for a delicious feast of cheesy toast, which the five of them ate crowded around the kitchen countertop, Tony and Jackie sitting at bar stools while the others stood. The Doctor was sneaking concerned glances at Rose, which she noticed, and which her mum also noticed, so that soon the three of them were all sneaking glances at one another. It was hard to be sad, doing something that ridiculous, and when she looked up and met her dad’s eyes, he was looking quite amused, too. By the end of lunch, all four were behaving oddly enough that Tony piped up and asked what everyone was looking at. 

After, Rose let Tony show her his video game, which turned out to be rather a fun racing game that he beat her in immediately. They gave it a few more goes, even got the others involved with the third and fourth controllers, and one adult was happy to sit out each round. Then, Tony gave her a tour of his new bedroom and then hers, pointing out all the ways in which was the same as -- and different from -- their old house. He was observant, Tony, and even she hadn’t noticed that the pattern on the duvet was a slightly different colour, until he pointed it out. 

By the time Tony was ready for bed, Rose was ready to go, and she felt the Doctor’s eyes on her again as she said goodnight to her brother in the lounge. She found the Doctor staring warmly at her, expression open and maybe even a bit longing, but he snapped back into a friendly smile as she returned his look. 

“Ready?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” she said. She wanted to hold his hand. Wanted to tell him _run_. Wanted to find an adventure. Wanted to forget about anything else. 

She hugged her dad goodbye, and then her mum, who squeezed her tight again and told Rose to call her in the morning. They stepped into the TARDIS, and the Doctor sent them back into the Time Vortex with a flick of his wrist. Then, a quiet settled between them. She could sense how badly he wanted to ask her how she was doing. How carefully he was suppressing the urge. 

“I’m all right, Doctor,” she said, and stepped towards him. He looked confused, and she pulled both of his arms away from his body and stepped into his embrace. He let out a great, big breath and squeezed her close. 

“Thanks,” she said, looking up at him.

“Yeah.” His Adam’s apple bobbed. 

“D’you mind keeping me company a little while?” 

He nodded, so she took his hand and led him down the corridor. 

\--

“Thanks for taking me to see them,” she said, wringing her hair out with a towel and stepping from her en suite into her bedroom. 

She was dressed in her most conservative jim-jams -- a long sleeved, button-down number with a pair of long bottoms as well -- but it was still intimate, having him in her bedroom as she got ready for bed. He’d taken off his suit jacket and his shoes and, between the two of them, it might’ve been the least clothed they’d ever been around one another. 

“Anytime, Rose, really.” 

He sat on the edge of her bed and Rose side-stepped him, sitting on the opposite side, but shifting back against the pillows and planting her feet in front of her so her knees were pointed. 

“I kissed him,” Rose said. The Doctor didn’t flinch, didn’t react visibly at all. She thought it might hurt him to hear it, even if it was obvious, but he only looked a bit sad. “He said he wasn’t ready. That he might never be ready.” 

He sighed and scooted back until he was seated next to her, his long legs extended in front of him and baring his socked feet. 

“I’m sorry, Rose.” 

“It’s not your fault.”

“Well…” He cocked his head. “That’s debatable.”

“It’s not. I just couldn’t really… talk to you about this. You’re still too much the same. I need someone else to go to.” 

“Quite right,” he said, and Rose shook her head, smiling. 

“I feel better, though.” 

“I wish I could-- Look. I’m an idiot, all right? Spectacularly brilliant about some things, terribly stupid about others. And you have no idea how hard it is to see that I’ve upset you… when I wasn’t even the one who did it. Because I understand. Is he a right pillock? Absolutely. But I understand.” 

“You’re not a pillock,” Rose said and stretched her legs out, too, wiggling her toes. 

“Want me to beat myself up for you?” 

Rose laughed. “No. You seem to be doing a good enough job of that separately.” 

“Mm. It’s my speciality.” 

“I know it’s hard for him,” she said. “For you. Letting me in. And it’s not like I’m in a rush. It’s just…” She scrunched up her nose. “See? It is weird, telling you this. I feel like I’m talking behind your back and confronting you all at once.” 

“So don’t. You don’t have to. And if you want to talk to Jack or Mickey or someone else… Oh! Martha could tell you a lot about me being thick.” 

“Seeing my mum was great.” She looked up at him, noticing the way his glance fluttered from her eyes to her lips seemingly in spite of himself. A pang of want went through her and she looked away.

“Good,” he said. 

“Do you mind if I…” She scooted closer to him and he inhaled, holding his breath, and lifted his arm. She snuggled in and rested her head on his chest, stretching her legs out in front of her. He exhaled slowly and she closed her eyes. 

“Are you tired?” he asked softly. 

“Been a long day,” she said. She saw the lights dim from behind her closed eyes and the Doctor shifted a little closer to her. 

“I’ll stay as long as you like.” 

She wasn’t sure it was possible, the three of them. Wasn’t sure how she’d be able to go back to the other Doctor avoiding her, to awkward pairs and terse words. But she nestled in further, pressing her cheek to the hollow of this Doctor’s shoulder, and did her best to forget. It was a long while before she fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to rointheta, crazygirlne/aimtoallonsy, and scullywolf :)

Rose awakened slowly as the artificial light in her room stirred her to consciousness. The first thing that she noticed was that she was very warm. Almost too warm, in that way where sweat threatened to form, any second, on her back and forehead. She was buried in the duvet, covered in it like a burrito, up to her chin.   
  
As she blinked her eyes open and looked down, she saw a lightly haired, lightly freckled arm across her waist, and it all came flooding back. Her breath hitched. She caught the reaction, stifled it, not wanting to wake him, as she could feel him behind her, breath slow and steady.   
  
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, snuggling back into his embrace and letting the quiet of the moment pour over her. For several long seconds Rose felt nothing but warmth, love, happiness -- radiating from his warm body right into her own. Then, the prior day’s events hit her and she had to bite her lip to keep her eyes from stinging.   
  
How could she ever be happy here when the other Doctor was alone?   
  
She clenched her eyes shut even harder, willing herself to forget, to just enjoy this. It was the first time they’d ever purposefully gone to bed together: no threat of danger, no forced lodgings. The first time she’d woken up in his arms. It shouldn’t be bittersweet.   
  
Losing herself in her thoughts for a time, she was jolted out of her reverie when the Doctor inhaled sharply and pulled her closer. Surprised, she let out a squeak, and he released her, his voice like sandpaper, whispering a gruff “sorry” into her ear.   
  
She could smell his breath, stale and very warm.  _This_  Doctor had morning breath. She couldn’t stop herself wondering if the other one did too, and then squeezed her eyes shut again as a pulse of guilt hit her, making her stomach flip.  _Stop it._  
  
“Good morning,” she said instead, and stroked his arm with her free hand. Her other was caught under her somewhere, stuck in the tangled heap of blanket.  
  
“Very good,” he said, still low and raspy. “We ought to do this more often.”   
  
Another wave of guilt washed over her: disloyalty to both men. To the other Doctor, for leaving him out. To this one, for being unable to really enjoy any of this. He caught on to her mood, propping himself up on the arm underneath him and looking down at her.   
  
“All right?” He scanned her face, his brow furrowing.  
  
She smiled, forced herself to. “You took your oxford off.”   
  
It was light enough now. She could see it draped haphazardly across her nightstand, one sleeve brushing the floor.   
  
“You didn’t answer me.”  
  
She faced him, turning under his arm. He didn’t move, his hand trailing from her belly to the curve of her waist as she shifted. Her shirt had ridden up sometime in the night.   
  
“I want to be,” she said.   
  
“Rose, it’s okay if you’re not okay.” He paused, considering. “It’s also okay if you’re more okay than you think you should be. Really, whatever it is you’re feeling, it’s okay.”  
  
“Stop saying ‘okay.’”  
  
He nodded. “Okay.”   
  
She laughed. He beamed back at her. She rolled her eyes.  
  
“And anyway, you can’t possibly mean that,” she said.  
  
“‘Course I do.”   
  
“This is--” She took another deep breath. Let it out. “I was so happy when I woke up. You never stayed, before. And now, this was…” She trailed off. “But then I thought about everything from yesterday. And how you’re alone, too. The other you. And it…”   
  
He smiled, brought his hand to her face, and looped some stray hair behind her ear. “I know. You can be happy and sad at the same time. It’s allowed.”   
  
“I feel like all I’m doing is hurting you both.”   
  
“No, no, no.” He shook his head. “This, right here? I’d’ve given anything for this, for such a long time.”  
  
“Yeah?”   
  
“Yes. And as for my counterpart… I can promise you that, no matter what sort of moping he’s getting up to, he is far happier with you on the TARDIS than he was without you, even on his best day.”   
  
The thought of it struck her like a blow, low in her gut. “Don’t say that.”   
  
“Okay, fine. We had a brilliant time while you were in Pete’s World. Turned the place into a real bachelor pad. Had a mirror ball and everything.  _When the cat’s away_ , as they say.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “Better?”   
  
She scrunched up her nose. “I’m really not sure.”   
  
He sighed, put upon. “Well then, Rose, there’s nothing else I can do for you, hm?”   
  
A smile was tugging at her lips. “Suppose not.”   
  
“Oh! Except, there  _is_  one thing…”   
  
“Wha--” She was interrupted by his fingers swiftly returning to her waist and digging into her side hard enough for her to feel through the duvet. She squirmed to get away, laughing. “I’m going to kick you if you don’t stop-- Ah! Stop!”   
  
He complied, hand moving away as soon as she asked. He watched her with a little grin as her breaths calmed and she composed herself. Was he a bit flushed?  
  
Was she?   
  
It was too hot.   
  
She flopped away from him, onto her back, and kicked at the covers, down and away, until they released her. When she looked back at him, he was splayed out with his hands behind his head, looking at the ceiling as though it were the most fascinating starscape. He was down to his trousers and a t-shirt now, and she had to force herself to look away. Instead, she lay next to him, a suitable amount of distance between them, and joined him, staring up at nothing.  
  
“I know what we need,” he said, without looking away from the ceiling.  
  
She feigned a few seconds of careful thought. “A lighter duvet?”   
  
He chuckled. “No. Food.”   
  
“Food?”  
  
“And maybe some juice… apple? Or... mafonberry? Sparkling. Definitely sparkling.”   
  
“All right, that’s a bit specific. I was thinking a fry up could be good--”  
  
“And somewhere nice to eat and drink it all. I mean  _really_  nice.”   
  
“Um--”  
  
“Like a picnic, at sunsrise, along the Cliffs of Pulchritude. Oh! Perfect, that is.”  
  
“The cliffs of...?”  
  
“Pulchritude! On the northwest continent of planet B-32 in quadrant nine of the Tadpole Galaxy.”  
  
“Right,” Rose said, humoring him a little bit. She sat up and stretched her arms over her head. She could sense him watching her as she moved, but as she tried to look his way, he leapt out of bed.  
  
Grabbing his oxford and throwing it over his shoulder, he grinned at her. “Yes. That is exactly what we need.”   
  
“I’m not sure I--”  
  
“Don’t you worry,” he said, moving towards the door. “Take your time getting ready. Wear something comfortable. Not too warm, not too cool. I’ll get the food together, pilot us to B-32, and set it all up. I’ll even give a little telepathic knock on the door, see if my broodier half is willing to make an appearance.”  
  
“Yeah?” She bit her lip.   
  
He stopped what he was doing, pausing by the door. Calmer, he gave her a brilliant smile. “It really is going to be okay.”   
  
Something about his tone sent a warm feeling through her, settling in her chest, and she gave him a nod. That seemed to satisfy him and he nodded right back, big and exaggerated before leaving and shutting the door behind him with a quiet click.  
  
\--  
  
Try as she might, Rose Tyler could not help being an optimist.   
  
Surely if the Doctor thought everything was going to be okay, that his counterpart was better off with her here, that she wasn’t running rampage through the lives of two men she loved -- then maybe she could trust in that, herself.   
  
She could.   
  
Heart beating a touch faster than normal, she got ready. Took a shower and managed to get a bit of shampoo in her eye, which stung like hell. Blew her hair dry and then sat on the porcelain rim of her tub, fanning herself with an old magazine until the flush in her cheeks died down. Applied her makeup carefully, mascara a bit heavier than she’d been wearing it recently, though not so heavy as before she’d been stranded. Picked out a comfortable pair of jeans, a short-sleeve t-shirt, her comfy trainers. Checked herself in the mirror, then threw her hair in a low ponytail. Second-guessed her outfit. Changed into  _another_  short-sleeve t-shirt (this one a green she thought brought out the colour of her eyes). Worried a bit that she might be taking too long even as she contemplated a third shirt. Checked herself in the mirror again anyway. Redid her ponytail. Took it out and left her hair down.  
  
Good enough.   
  
Shutting the door gently behind her, Rose made her way to the console room, hoping to find the two Doctors bickering or, better yet, flying the TARDIS together. It was hard to tell from the corridor whether they’d dematerialised. She hastened her steps, hands shoved into her pockets, and wondered what he’d packed them to eat. She was properly hungry now, her grumbling, empty stomach sending jolts of irritable energy through her. She hoped it was more than just nibbles. Still, if she could have another chance to spend time with them both, to try again at normalcy, that’d be fine -- better than fine. Even if she had to head straight back into the TARDIS to make herself a late-morning fry up afterwards.   
  
She stepped into the console room. The green glow of the rotor caught her eye. The room was empty. It was incredibly quiet in here, like being in a school after hours when even the teachers had gone home.   
  
“Doctor?”   
  
Nothing. Either they hadn’t left yet, or he was outside getting things ready.   
  
She stepped farther into the room, peering towards the closed door. If they were floating in the vortex, it shouldn’t do any harm to crack it open. But if he were outside getting things ready and she spoiled it… She sat down on the jump seat, wiggling her feet.   
  
A few, long minutes passed and she huffed in annoyance. She sprung off it, using her hands to push herself in a little jump onto her feet, just to hold back her restlessness.   
  
Then, she saw the sonic screwdriver lying on the console, silver glinting green every time the rotor pulsed. She plucked it up, the metal heavier in her palm than she remembered, and found herself moving towards the door. She stuck the sonic in her pocket. This was a good enough reason to interrupt him getting ready.   
  
She stepped outside, blinking against the light of two suns - one green, one blue - shining halfway past the horizon. The TARDIS was parked along a cliff, with orangey blue crags extending to its right. Turquoise sunbeams hit the crags, setting off thousands of sparkling pinpricks of light, like diamonds embedded into the rocks. It was breathtaking. It was enough to distract her for several seconds, until she realised that the too-quiet from the console room extended out here, too.  
  
He wasn’t here.   
  
Moving forward, she looked around until her eyes found a picnic blanket, laid out a few metres away from the cliff, facing the glittering crags. She could see from where she was that the food was knocked over, that the blanket was dirtied and torn. Eyes widening, she sprinted towards it, looking around for the Doctor. It was silent out here. No one around, nowhere plainly obvious to go.   
  
Bits of cheese and apple and toast were crushed into the blanket. A large, purple footprint - no, a  _Chuck_  print - stained a substantial portion in the middle. Her breath caught in her throat. The Doctor’s specs lay at the blanket’s corner, broken as if stomped on. Droplets of blood dotted the area around them.  
  
She turned and ran, back into the TARDIS, slamming the door behind her, calling for the Doctor as loud as she could.   
  
\--  
  
Footsteps sounded through the corridor, hers and another pair, growing closer together. HIs face swam into view, panicked, eyes wide, and when he spotted her he sped up even further, until he was right in front of her.   
  
“What is it? Are you all right?” he asked, moving as though to grip her shoulders and then stopping himself. He studied her face, eyes darting, making sure she was unharmed.   
  
“I’m fine. The other Doctor, he’s gone. I think someone’s hurt him.”   
  
Something shuttered behind his eyes and he looked away. He turned, moving towards the console room.  
  
“We need to figure out who took him!” Rose yelled after him.  
  
“I need to figure out where we are, first.”   
  
“Cliffs, with two suns. B-32. Tadpole Galaxy.”   
  
He frowned. “The Cliffs of Pulchritude?”  
  
“Yes. Those. Do you know who would’ve taken him?”   
  
“It’s a peaceful planet. No periods of war to speak of. No corrupt governments,” he said to himself. He pulled out his specs and leaned in closer to the monitor. Rose flinched. “And the coordinates are... correct.”   
  
“So what happened?”  
  
“I don’t know. There’s no reason he should’ve found any trouble. Are you sure he was taken?”   
  
“Yes! Come look,” she said, frustration lacing through her. “Picnic’s all mucked up and I think there’s blood on the blanket.”   
  
She moved to start walking, but he caught her arm, and she looked up at him, the urge to tell him  _hurry up_  half-formed on her lips.   
  
“Hey,” he said, quiet.   
  
“What?” she asked, forcing herself to calm down. To look him in the eye. He released her arm and she took a step back.  
  
“He’s been,” he sniffed, “knocking all morning. Thought he was just being a prat, but…” He stuck a hand in his hair, looked away. “Finally opened the door, so to speak, and he’s okay, Rose.”   
  
“He is?” her heart rate calmed and she folded her arms over her chest, suddenly self-conscious.  
  
“He is. More than a little bit annoyed with me, but yes. Conscious. Not in immediate danger.”  
  
She nodded to herself. “He can’t tell you what happened to him?”   
  
“Sorry. No.”   
  
Her heart sank.   
  
“But we’ll go find him!” He stepped forward, jammed his hands into his pockets. “There’s a settlement not far from the cliffs. We’ll start there.”   
  
She swallowed, nodded again. “Okay. Let’s go.”   
  
She held his concerned gaze for another second and then turned, leading the way out of the TARDIS.   
  
\--  
  
There was a very faint path leading from pink grass of their cliffside view into the plains that lay beyond. They followed it away from the cliffs, stomping through patches of tall grass. Rose was annoyed to find that her hip was hurting again.   
  
She couldn’t think what to say to this Doctor. She was torn between asking for a minute-by-minute update on the status of the other and wanting to ask him, beg him not to shut her out again like he had before. A smaller, darker part of her wanted to shake him, ask him why he wasn’t ready, why he was making this so hard.   
  
So she said nothing. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, enough for her to notice, but he didn’t talk either.  
  
They’d been walking for what Rose estimated was about two miles when the settlement appeared on the horizon. Small houses made of stone, a wall surrounding it all. There was a gate into the town, with several guards stationed there, each of whom was wearing a yellow hat. The Doctor flashed the psychic paper at one - ID check - and they were admitted with a terse smile.   
  
As they entered the settlement, Rose noticed the people looked mostly human, apart from small sets of horns along the crowns of their heads.   
  
“Do you know who we should talk to?” Rose asked. She sounded a little scratchy from the yelling she’d done before. She cleared her throat.   
  
“Anyone would do to start with, I reckon,” he said, squinting as he looked around. “There’s definitely something fishy going on. B-32 shouldn’t need armed guards.”   
  
“Right then,” Rose said, as a young woman walked by. “Oi, you!”   
  
The woman looked up, her silvery horns glittering in the blue-green light of the suns. The Doctor shot Rose a look and stepped forward.  
  
“Beg your pardon,” he said, offering up his most charming smile. “My name is the Doctor and this is Rose. We were just wondering whether there’s been any trouble on your lovely planet as of late. Couldn’t help noticing the guards.”   
  
The woman gave him a peculiar look, raising her eyebrow and looking them over. Checking for horns, Rose realised suddenly.   
  
“There has,” she said carefully, narrowing her eyes.   
  
“What sort of trouble?” The Doctor rocked back on his heels, hands still in his pockets.   
  
“You don’t know? It’s been all over the news,” she said, placing a hand on her hip.   
  
“Nope!” He smiled. “Off-worlders. Just arrived, to see the cliffs.”   
  
“Oh wow,” she said. “You’re really lucky you weren’t hurt.”   
  
“Why’s that?” Rose asked, trying to hide her impatience behind a friendly smile, which may have looked more like a grimace. She felt the Doctor’s eyes on her again.  
  
“There’ve been abductions,” she said. “An offworld gang--” She wrinkled her nose. “They’re called ‘Havoc.’”   
  
“Havoc?” the Doctor asked, face puzzled. “Never heard of them.”  
  
“Stupid name, I agree. They’re rumoured to be from somewhere in Etamin. Showed up a couple of weeks ago, now.”   
  
“What do they want?” The Doctor dragged a hand through his hair.   
  
“Money.” The woman rolled her eyes. “Been abducting one person per day. When they can. That’s their threat. But they can’t get beyond the gates, here, and we’ve all started staying inside. Still, that’s what they keep saying. One person per day until the government pays up. A trillion units.”   
  
“ _Money?_  Is that all? They’ve taken hostages for a ransom?”   
  
“I know,” she said with a scoff. “No honour in it, but isn’t that how it goes nowadays. Still! They’ve not hurt anybody. That’s a relief. The government will sort it out soon, and till then we have the guards.”   
  
“Any idea how many of them there are?”   
  
She shrugged. “Not many. It’s always the same three in the videos they release.”   
  
“Only three?”   
  
“Yeah. They just keep demanding the units get transferred to their account. And they only abduct the unarmed. The guards would put a stop to it in a day, but the problem’s that no one can find their base.”   
  
“Y’know, I think I may have a way around that.” He grinned.   
  
The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “What’s that?”   
  
“Call it radar,” he said, and winked at her. “Rose?”   
  
“Yeah.” She smiled at the woman, and this time it was a bit more genuine. “Thank you.”   
  
“Yeah, sure,” the woman said, shaking her head and walking away.   
  
\--   
  
“This way,” the Doctor said, veering left as they passed through the gates of the town. It was the opposite direction than they’d come by.   
  
“Is it really like radar?” she asked, tilting her head.   
  
“Maybe more like a homing beacon.” He shrugged. “Either analogy works.”   
  
“And he’s all right?”   
  
The Doctor glanced at her, expression maddeningly neutral. “Yes. We’re having a lovely one-sided chat in which I am telling him, very clearly, to hold his horses because we’re on our way.”   
  
The grass was becoming denser on this side of the settlement. Rose had to lift each leg so her knee was nearly touching her chest to walk through it. The Doctor and his longer legs were having less difficulty. Up ahead the grass transitioned altogether into wood, shaded in darker greens and blues.   
  
“What’s our plan?”   
  
“Well,” he said, “suppose we’ll want to verify how many there are. Can’t imagine why he’d be trapped at all, if it’s only three.”   
  
“Oh,” Rose said, and fished into her jeans pocket, pulling out the sonic. “He left this behind.”   
  
The Doctor’s eyes widened and he gave one great, exaggerated nod, exhaling deeply. “I see.”  
  
“I mean, not that you -- um, you two -- can’t get by without it. I’m sure our rescuing him’s only speeding things up.”   
  
“Right. Of course. We’re terribly clever.” He stepped over a particularly deep patch of grass. “Even if human DNA’s apparently given him the memory of a goldfish.”   
  
She frowned. “Well, I reckon he was busy, trying to come up with something nice for us to do. Had his arms full with the food and all.”   
  
“Ah.”   
  
“I mean the three of us.”   
  
“Right. Yep.”   
  
The tall grass gradually gave way to compact, pink earth as the plains transitioned into woods. Now, it was hard to ignore the Doctor’s farther-than-usual proximity, the way they were decidedly  _not_  holding hands. The way he wasn’t even glancing her way anymore, just because she’d uttered the phrase ‘the three of us.’ The way he’d done the same when she first suggested it, and every time since.  
  
“Listen,” she said, “it’s fine about you not being ready. I wasn’t trying to… pressure you. I just thought you… I thought wrong. It won’t happen again. I mean, you can just tell me when you are, yeah? And if you never are, that’s -- that’s fine.”   
  
He said nothing, instead pulling out his sonic and scanning as he walked.   
  
“I don’t want things going back to how it was before, between you and me. I mean. I  _do_ , actually. But before-before. Not a few days ago-before.” She attempted a silly grin. “Know what I mean?”  
  
“We’re fine, Rose,” he said, adjusting the sonic once more and sticking it into his suit pocket.   
  
“No,” she said with a sigh. “Don’t start that again. It’s weird right now. The right thing to do’s to deal with that and then put it behind us. Stop saying everything’s fine.”   
  
“But it is fine,” he said. “Molto bene!”   
  
A bolt of annoyance shot through her. What had the other Doctor been thinking, setting something up for the three of them to do? This one had been ignoring his ‘knocking.’ Wouldn’t’ve come out for anything less than her shouting bloody murder. She woke up smiling this morning. But none of them were happy, were they? Not really.   
  
Maybe she was trying to make something work that couldn’t.   
  
Maybe she was tired of revisiting that thought so often.   
  
She nearly tripped over a thick, purple root, and the Doctor moved to catch her, but she righted herself, folding her arms and keeping her eyes on the ground.   
  
“Are we almost there?” she asked.  
  
“You shouldn’t be waiting on me,” he said. She looked up at him in shock and found his eyes were fixed straight ahead, his mouth tense.   
  
“What?”   
  
“Are you?” His voice went very high-pitched, failing utterly at casual. “Waiting? Cause you shouldn’t. I-- I don’t want you to do that. So. Don’t.”   
  
Irritation shot through her like ice chased by fire. “You’ve got to be kidding me. No, you do not get to ask me that right now.”   
  
“Rose--”  
  
“You want to talk about things? Really talk? Then we can. But you can’t push aside everything I have to say, pretend things’re normal, and then throw that at me out of nowhere. It’s not fair.”  
  
“I’m sorry.”   
  
“Thanks. Really, that helps.” She couldn’t stop the way anger was bubbling through her, making her muscles tense, her head cloudy. “You know, on second thought, I’ll tell you. Yeah, I am waiting. I am.”   
  
She stopped, turning to face him.   
  
“Rose--”   
  
“Because it’s not right, is it? Not fair. To move forward with him and not you. You’re still you, too, even if it’s like bloody night and day. I can’t move forward with him and not you. I just can’t. Everytime I’m with him, I just wish you were both--” She shook her head. “I had to be mad, to think this could work.”   
  
He said nothing.  
  
“And I  _know_  how you feel now. I knew before, but now I can really…” A thought emerged, cold and sharp in its sudden clarity. “Unless there’s something different about him. Something that makes him actually want me.”   
  
He flinched, eyes focused on the ground. “That’s not--”   
  
“I don’t see how this can work. I just don’t. I tried to, and--” She cut herself off, fighting back the tears that were suddenly threatening to spill over. “It can’t, can it?”   
  
“Rose, please.”   
  
She looked up at him. He was all blurry. “Just tell me to go, then.”   
  
“What?” he asked, tone sharp.   
  
“This isn’t fair to anyone. It’s not. And you don’t want m--” She had to stop. Start over. “So tell me, then. I said I’d never go unless you did. And I won’t. Really, I won’t. But maybe it’ll be easier, in the long run, right? Like ripping off a--”  
  
In two long strides, he moved towards her. One hand cupped her waist, the other her neck, long fingers moving into her hair. Then, he pressed his mouth to hers. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to my awesome betas, crazygirlne/aimtoallonsy and scullywolf! :)

There was nothing gentle or subtle about this kiss. His grip on her waist tightened as he pulled her closer and she opened her mouth under his, gasping at the way his tongue brushed along the seam of her lips. His fingers wound deeper into her hair and tightened around the strands, not tight enough to hurt, but enough that Rose could feel the tug of it. She parted her lips and invited him in, but he nipped at her bottom lip instead, then sucked it between his, soothing the hurt with his tongue.   
  
She broke their kiss to take a breath, and he let out something resembling a growl, pulling her towards him again and reclaiming her mouth. His hand curled from her waist, spanning her back, and he pressed closer to her, lining their bodies up until Rose felt heat bloom, low in her stomach, and wrapped one arm around his neck, the other looping around his side. She pushed herself into him, hoping to find him hard beneath his layers, acting without thought. Then, it all washed over her: her threat to leave, his desperation, her promise to wait for the other Doctor if things got any further than kissing.   
  
She broke away, panting, and he released his grip on her. She took a step back.   
  
“Doctor--”  
  
He looked down at her, eyes wide and wild, suit somehow rumpled even though she’d kept her hands to herself. Mostly. The sight of him so unhinged tempted and shamed her all at once. He didn’t really mean it, did he? It was only because of what she said.   
  
“I’m sorry,” Rose said. He moved towards her and she took another step back. “I shouldn’t have said that. I shouldn’t have. It -- You’re not ready.”   
  
“You can’t go.” He took another step closer, eyes nearly black.   
  
“You can’t kiss me like that.”   
  
Her words seemed to break through that dark desperation and he raised an eyebrow at her, cocking his head.   
  
“Why not?”   
  
“Because!”  
  
“Because of him?”  
  
“No! Not him. Because you - you rejected me  _yesterday_. And now you’re kissing me, and you  _just_  told me not to wait for you, right now, and--” She looped a strand of hair behind her ear, frustration and arousal and day-old rejection warring inside her. She shook her head. “Feels like I’m going mad.”   
  
“It’s not because you said that.” He took another step closer and she backed up, her head knocking into the deep pink trunk of one of the mossy trees lining their path.   
  
“It’s not?”   
  
He squinted. “Not  _only_?”   
  
Her face fell. “It is, it’s because I-- I manipulated you. I did. I’m sorry. It’s not-- That wasn’t fair. I was upset, and I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying, and it came out all--”   
  
“Rose, do you honestly think I haven’t been doubting what happened yesterday every moment since? Every second.”   
  
She raised her eyes to his and found him watching her with a wistful expression, his hands twitching against the fabric of his trousers.   
  
“You were?”   
  
“It’s not like I’ve any clue what I’m doing, either.”   
  
“But you said you’re not ready.” Her face heated, throat going tight.   
  
“I’m not,” he said, and her stomach dropped. He balked, then stepped closer again and grabbed her hand. “No, no, no. I mean. Maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe none of us are. Maybe that’s the point.”   
  
The thought that somehow everything might be okay was threatening to overpower her. Hope was as hard to cope with as anything. Years apart from him had shown her that.  _Apart from him…_  
  
“We can’t,” she said.   
  
“We can’t?”   
  
“Do this. Right now. We can’t. He’s-- kidnapped! And we’re -- we’re acting out a soap in a forest.”   
  
“Ah.” He scrunched up his nose. “I’m sure he’s fine. I really don’t think it’s all that urgent--”   
  
“Doctor.” Rose squeezed his hand. “I said I’d waited, right? For you. And I -- we have, with…” Her cheeks heated further. “With the kissing and that sort of thing. But he and I have talked a lot. About how we should do all this. And you and I haven’t talked at all. And when we do, I want to do it right. Not in the middle of a rescue mission.”   
  
“Well, when you put it like that…” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, looking sheepish.   
  
“And I want you to be sure. I don’t want you changing your mind because -- I’m staying, all right? But you need to think about what’s been holding you back, and we need to talk about it.”   
  
He looked away.   
  
“I know you’re absolutely rubbish at this sort of thing--”  
  
“Am not--”   
  
“Please.” She laughed, shaking her head. “You are. And you don’t have to tell me everything you’ve been thinking the last couple of weeks. I don’t expect that. Just... ” She squeezed his hand once more, then released it. “Just enough for us to figure things out, all right?”   
  
He pursed his lips, eyes flitting around them, but nodded, a slight, subtle thing. There was a beat between them, and Rose watched the heat and heaviness of the moment melt off him entirely. He ran a hand through his hair, took a look around them, and then shut his eyes for a second as though he were listening to his thoughts. When he opened his eyes again, he was all kinetic energy.   
  
“Right!” He jammed his hands into his pockets and began walking again. “So we’re close now, and if I had to guess -- and I’m brilliant at guessing, mind -- I’d say the reason no one can find their hideout is because they’re hiding out somewhere people can’t see.”   
  
“What, like an invisible fortress?” She frowned, picking up her pace and crossing her arms as she walked. “With three blokes inside, no. That seems excessive. Really excessive. Three people wouldn’t need anything big, but it’d need to be big enough that they could hold hostages.”   
  
“Good point.” He raised his eyebrows, evaluating her.  
  
“What about their ship?” Rose asked. “They’re offworlders, right? It could have some sort of cloaking, maybe a perception filter?”   
  
The Doctor glanced at her, face breaking out into a wide smile. “Rose Tyler! My thoughts exactly.”   
  
“Oh, fancy that.” She grinned back at him, letting her tongue slip into it.   
  
They reached a clearing in the woods, pink and purple trees parting to make way for the soft light of the suns on tall grass. Right in the middle was a shimmering sort of nothingness, precisely the sort of nothing that Rose would have looked right past before her Torchwood training. Now, though, she focused her eyes just to the right of the nothing, let her vision go hazy, and was able to discern the outline of a ship. From what she could tell, it was a bit banged up and larger than Jack’s ship had been, but only just.   
  
“There, straight ahead,” the Doctor said. “Just let your eyes relax and you should be able to see it.”  
  
“I see it.” Rose bit her lip. “Kind of a bit rubbish, really.”   
  
“Suppose it explains why they need the money.”   
  
“What should we do?” Rose asked. “There aren’t many of them, but they’re still dangerous, yeah? I don’t exactly want to go barging into a ship filled with armed gunmen.”   
  
“Well,” the Doctor cocked his head, looking towards the other end of the clearing, and Rose followed his line of sight until she spotted one lonely guard, making his way along the perimeter, completely oblivious to the ship in the centre of the clearing.   
  
“What was it that woman said?” Rose asked. “‘The guards would put a stop to this in a day if they could just find them’?”   
  
“Something like that.”   
  
They shifted their course, heading towards the lone, patrolling guard.   
  
“Say, Rose,” the Doctor inclined his head towards her, “what are your feelings on a humourous decoy scenario?”  
  
She squinted at him. “You lost me.”  
  
“Well. We’ve got rather a prime opportunity here. One of me there, one of me here.”   
  
She caught onto what he must be thinking, a smile spreading across her face. “What, like, pretend to be him so they think he’s got out?”   
  
“Precisely. They come running, looking for me, and I lead them straight to the guards.”   
  
“What if they shoot?”   
  
“Good point. Based on their ship’s technology, there’s a strong likelihood they’ll have electromagnetic laser weaponry. I might be able to jam them with the sonic.”   
  
“And if not?”   
  
He jerked his head to the side, eyebrows raised, considering. “Guess I’ll just have to be faster than they are.”   
  
As they approached the guard, the Doctor raised one hand in a friendly wave and Rose let her hands rest at her sides, smiling politely. He looked up with an expression of surprise, which he chased with a hastily adopted mask of formidability. Though he was handsome, he had an unlined, boyish face, capable of a moustache, perhaps, but certainly not a beard. The fact that his helmet was a touch too large added to the overall effect.   
  
“Hello!” the Doctor said with a grin.  
  
“What’re you doing all the way out here?” the guard asked.   
  
“Well, you see, I have a twin brother. His name’s Angus, lovely fellow." (Rose forced back a laugh.) "He was kidnapped today by those Havoc blokes. And I’m fairly certain that Havoc’s holed up right over there in that ship. Do you see it?” He pulled out the sonic and gave it a whir, making the cloaking around the ship glitter teal in the sunlight. The guard gasped.   
  
“That’s their ship?” he asked, raising his hand to eye level.   
  
“Reckon so,” the Doctor said. “Got this twin connection -- you know how it is, twins -- spooky, right? And something tells me dear old Angus is holed up in that ship.”  
  
“Havoc is  _right there_?” The guard pushed his helmet halfway off his head, exposing his silver horns and rubbing at his forehead in apparent consternation. He let out a sigh. “This isn’t good.”   
  
“Why?” Rose asked.   
  
“This is my patrol zone! I’ve been walking through these woods, this clearing, for weeks and-- and they’re right  _here_? Oh my god. I’ll be sacked!”   
  
“What’s your name?” Rose asked.   
  
“Xien.”  
  
“Xien. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Rose and this is the Doctor.”   
  
“Yeah, hi,” Xien said, rubbing a hand across his right horn in a way that reminded Rose of the way her mum relieved tension headaches.   
  
“I don’t think you’ll be sacked.” She stepped closer and put her hand on his shoulder, giving him a reassuring smile. “When they find out you helped get these hostages free, you’ll be a hero.”   
  
Xien swept his fringe to the side, smearing pink dirt on his face in the process, and lowered his helmet. “When I call it in I’m going to be a laughing stock. We’ve been looking for cloaked ships-- I was trained.” He squinted, looking towards the ship without focussing on it. “I still can’t see it. And I haven’t seen anyone walking around here, either. Surely they’ve been coming in and out!”   
  
“It’s not your fault,” Rose said. “Some people just have a harder time seeing around perception filters. Think it’s something about the shape of the retina and latent psychic ability. Some people are harder to train, trust me.”   
  
Rose patted his arm and smiled, holding eye contact until he gave a hesitant smile back.   
  
“Anyway, no need to worry. We have a plan, Xien,” the Doctor said.   
  
“A plan?”   
  
“Why don’t you call one or two of your friends. People you know won’t tell anyone that the ship was on your patrol route all along. And  _I_  will lure those Havoc fellows out here. Then you can arrest them.”   
  
“Lure them out?” Xien scrunched up his nose.  
  
“Yep! Safer than trying to storm in, eh? I’ll just make a ruckus out here, let them get a glimpse, they come running, and you apprehend them. How’s that sound?”   
  
Xien looked behind the Doctor, eyes focussing and unfocussing in the direction of the ship as he thought. “That--- That sounds quite good, actually.”  
  
“Brilliant.” The Doctor grinned at Xien, then at Rose. “Let’s get started.”   
  
\--  
  
Fifteen minutes later, Xien had summoned two guard friends to help him make his arrest. Both of them were young, too. Maybe younger than Xien -- they looked like they couldn't even grow mustaches. The guards back in the city looked like real adults, but these were kids. It made Rose’s heart beat a little faster, her pulse pound a little louder in her ears. The need to protect innocent people always sent adrenaline coursing through her bloodstream.  
  
The ship was equipped with external cameras for a view screen, much like the TARDIS, so it was easy for the Doctor to run by, yelling, “Go, go, go!”   
  
Rose, meanwhile, stood off to the side of the ship’s entrance, the other Doctor’s sonic in her hand and preset to the frequency most likely to jam Havoc’s weapons. As the Doctor ran by, he looked back over his shoulder, eyes wide, grin manic, waiting for someone to give chase. It took a few seconds longer than they expected -- for several long strides he ran at absolutely nothing, rapidly approaching the guards, and she wondered briefly whether he’d have to circle back around.   
  
Then, the door to the ship burst open, loudly enough that Xien’s eyes finally connected with it. All three criminals followed, weapons drawn. They were dressed in bright green tunics that wrapped around behind their heads and covered their faces. The fabric shimmered unnaturally in the sun -- a perception filter there, as well -- and Rose was captivated for a second before she pointed the sonic at them. As it buzzed to life, she heard the sound of sparks from one, two-- but the third man was already out of range.   
  
The two disarmed men attempted to fire several times, while the one who was up ahead shot twice at the Doctor, who zigzagged out of his path.   
  
She could see the exact second that the Havoc men realised it was a setup. The Doctor skidded to a stop in front of the guards with a “Ha!” The guards raised their own weapons and ordered the men to freeze.   
  
The two with faulty weapons tossed theirs on the ground, but the third -- the one up front -- fired off another shot. Rose launched into a run before she even saw the Doctor start to fall, her mind going white with panic.   
  
She landed on her knees in front of him, splayed out on his back, just like last time. Her ears were buzzing, her throat tight. She saw the splash of tears on his suit jacket.   
  
“Don’t die, don’t die, come on, Doctor,  _stop getting shot_ , God-- Don’t you dare regenerate--” She lost track of her own rambling.   
  
“Rose--” He groped for her hand, held it tight, as she searched for the source of his injury. “Hey. I’m all right.”   
  
One of the guards stooped down next to them. There was some commotion behind them. Maybe the Havoc morons were taken care of. Rose caught the guard’s eye -- it was Xien -- and waved him closer. She pulled out the sonic, adjusting the setting to the basic ‘unlock’ frequency, and shoved it at him.   
  
“Go inside and give that to the bloke who looks like him,” she said. “If he’s behind a locked door, buzz it at the lock first to open it, okay?”  
  
“Is he all right?”   
  
“Yes!” The Doctor moved to sit up.  
  
“No!” She pushed him back down.   
  
“Rose, it only hit me in the leg. Just knocked me over. I’m not even sure I’m bleeding.”   
  
“You’re not?” She scanned him from head to toe again, looking for blood stains, for a golden glow spreading under his skin, but found nothing. Her pulse slowed, panic leaving her system, but then embarrassment began taking its place and she felt her cheeks heat.   
  
“It wasn’t a bullet. It was electromagnetic energy.”  
  
“Is that like what the Daleks shoot?”   
  
“No. Not at all. I’m fine.”  
  
“Sure,” she muttered. “You say that now. Then you start regenerating in five minutes.”   
  
“I’m not going to regenerate,” he said, and pushed himself up into a seated position. He pulled his knees up, looking at the back of his right leg. The material of his trousers was unsinged -- it looked the same as always. He looked at it with open evaluation, pinching the fabric and pulling it away from his leg.  
  
“Are you sure?”   
  
“Yes.” He brushed his trousers off and began pushing himself onto his feet, but as soon as he put weight on his right leg, he hissed and sat back down. “Still. Might be good to take a mo’.”   
  
“Doctor--”  
  
He met her eyes. “Don’t look so worried, Rose. I’m fine, I promise. Might need the dermal regenerator. Maybe that capsule I gave you the other day. At most.”   
  
She tilted her head, looking at his leg uncertainly.   
  
“I promise, all right?” he said.  
  
Brow furrowed, she nodded.   
  
“Besides,” he said in a voice that was all-too-casual. “Could be easier if I did.”   
  
“You’re not going to--” Her heartrate ratcheted up again.  
  
“No. I just mean…” He averted his eyes, tugging at his ear. “Could be better, in a way. If I did regenerate.”   
  
She plopped down alongside him, looping an arm around his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “No.”   
  
“No?” He glanced down at her.   
  
“Absolutely not.” She smiled. “Not that I wouldn’t love your next regeneration just as much. But -- the way you keep going through these bodies, Doctor. No idea how you even made it to nine hundred--”   
  
“Oi!”   
  
“Let’s not rush it, hm?” She nudged him. “Don’t you only have so many?”   
  
He sniffed and adjusted his tie, sticking it more neatly into his suit jacket. “Got a few left.”   
  
“Still. Need you to stay as you are, all right? No changing.”   
  
“Yeah,” he said in barely a whisper.  
  
She rested her head on his shoulder and he leaned into it. Now, she could give her attention to Havoc. All three men were cuffed, hands behind their backs, held by some sort of glowing orange energy. They sat in the thick, pink grass, their hoods down, exposing their faces, though Rose could only see the backs of their heads from where she sat. The two younger guards were taking turns reading them a list of rights from a laminated paper the size of a business card.   
  
“Are you sure you’re all right?”   
  
“Well!” A voice from behind called. “If you wanted to make a third one of us, you’d probably need to cut off another limb first.”   
  
Rose turned and found the Doctor in blue walking towards them, sonic spinning effortlessly in his hand, Xien trailing behind him with several other hostages, who were blinking at the assembled guards and apprehended criminals with fear and relief.  
  
“Think he’s all right. He’d be unconscious if they got a good hit in,” Xien said, head jerking towards the Doctor in brown. “But how about you, Angus? Are you injured?”   
  
The Doctor’s mouth twitched. “I’m fine, thank you. And thank you for returning this!” He gave the sonic a toss for flourish.   
  
Xien nodded and forked off towards the other guards, a proud gleam in his eye, and the Doctor paused when he reached the pair.   
  
“Angus,” the Doctor in brown said.  
  
“If I’m Angus this time, then that makes you Rocco.” He paused, looking the other man over. “All right?”   
  
“Yep. Might need a hand getting back to the TARDIS.”   
  
“No problemo,” he said, and offered his hand. Rose moved away from the Doctor in brown, getting up and brushing herself off, and the other Doctor pulled him into a standing position. He was using only his left leg, letting the right one dangle, so the Doctor in blue grabbed his counterpart’s arm and placed it around his shoulders, supporting him. The Doctor in brown gave him a grateful look and they began walking.   
  
Rose followed, careful eyes on the pair, until she heard someone running up from behind them. It was Xien, his cheeks flushed, a second smear of dirt marking his cheek.   
  
“Wait! Don’t you want to stick around? There’ll be a news crew. Backup guards. Maybe even the mayor! And I bet there’ll be a party tonight. We’ll be the guests of honour! ”   
  
“Naah,” both Doctors said in unison.  
  
“Oh, wow, that is a bit spooky,” Xien said, looking between them.   
  
“We’ll just be off,” the Doctor in brown said. “Thanks for helping us get Angus out of a pinch, there.”   
  
“Thank  _you_ ,” Xien said, smile spreading across his flushed face.   
  
“You’re a proper hero, now. Everyone’ll know.” Rose moved towards Xien and pulled him into a brief hug. “Thanks for everything.”  
  
Xien reddened further, turning away and mumbling under his breath. With a last look in his direction, Rose turned, following the two Doctors back into the woods.   
  
\--  
  
The walk back to the TARDIS was slow, and despite the Doctor’s repeated reassurances that he was fine, it was obvious that his leg was hurting badly. They took their time, the other Doctor providing purchase as the injured one made his way over tangled roots in the forest and the grass near the town. Finally, they reached the clearing by the Cliffs. The Doctors headed into the TARDIS to take the one in brown to the infirmary, and Rose distracted herself by cleaning up the abandoned picnic, taking the blanket and unopened bottles and putting them back into the basket which was, unsurprisingly, bigger on the inside.   
  
She heard a soft thunk and looked up to find the Doctor in blue walking towards her, hands in his pockets. She smiled, stomach going a bit fluttery at the sight of him, and he crouched down, grabbing the nearest bottle of juice and playing with it in his hands.   
  
“Is he all right?” Rose asked.   
  
“Yeah,” he said, dragging out the word, tone certain. “Bit of internal bruising. Nothing he couldn’t handle on his own, really, apart from the walking. But the dermal regenerator’s patched him right up. Well, the subdermal regenerator, I should say. Which is just a setting  _on_  the dermal regenerator, so, really, my point stands.”  
  
She grabbed the last of the dishes, placing it into the basket, and then noticed his crushed spectacles. She picked them up, eyes drifting to the dots of brown blood on the blanket.   
  
“Did they hurt you?”   
  
“Startled me,” he said, and put the bottle into the basket. He took the glasses from her and stuck them in his suit jacket. “Cut myself with the wine key, that’s all.”   
  
“Didn’t know human DNA would make you so clumsy,” she said, giving him a playful grin.  
  
“Hey. I’ll have you know, I’m as graceful as ever.”   
  
“Yeah, sure.”   
  
“I am! I’m the very pinnacle of grace, Rose Tyler. Don’t let your jealousy blind you.”   
  
She made a ‘pfft’ sound and rolled her eyes. His softened.   
  
“Really, it was fine. They forced me to go with them, had their guns out. Left me in the holding room with the others on their ship. Knew you two’d be along soon. Had a nice nap, actually.”   
  
“You did?”   
  
“Well. More like, I spent some time calming down the others.”   
  
“That sounds more like it.”   
  
“So he came to his senses, did he?” he asked abruptly.  
  
“What?” She stood and grabbed the basket, eyes going wide.   
  
He tapped his temple. “He’s in the console room. Might actually be ready to talk, at long last.”   
  
“Oh, well, that’s no pressure at all, ta.”   
  
“Come on,” he said, and took the basket from her. “We’ll all feel better after, I reckon.”   
  
With a deep breath, Rose started walking, sidling into the TARDIS as the Doctor opened the door for her. Inside, the other Doctor was leaning against the console, and he straightened up as they walked in, face nervous. The Doctor next to her dropped the basket beside the door and moved over to the jump seat, sitting down and propping his feet up. Silence fell over them and Rose looked between the two men.   
  
“So...” she said. 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note the rating change! This is the second to last chapter, though I may write an epilogue as well. Thank you to crazygirlne/aimtoallonsy and scullywolf for the beta!

_“Come on,” he said, and took the basket from her. “We’ll all feel better after, I reckon.”  
  
With a deep breath, Rose started walking, sidling into the TARDIS as the Doctor opened the door for her. Inside, the other Doctor was leaning against the console, and he straightened up as they walked in, face nervous. The Doctor next to her dropped the basket beside the door and moved over to the jump seat, sitting down and propping his feet up. Silence fell over them and Rose looked between the two men.   
  
“So...” she said. _  
  
\--  
  
She moved up the ramp to and stood next to the Doctor in brown, facing him as looked at her with apprehensive, dark eyes. The other Doctor sat on the seat, across the console, a spectator to their scene, and the Doctor in front of her gave no indication that he wanted the other one to leave. Several seconds ticked by, the humming of the rotor the only sound drowning out the beating of her own heart.   
  
“Is your leg okay now--?” she started.   
  
“There were a lot of reasons I wasn’t ready.”   
  
Her heart stilled, then picked up its speed as her eyes shot to his. He looked at her straight on, but the way he fiddled with the edge of the console gave him away. A pang went through her. This would never be easy for him, and he was doing it for her.   
  
“I thought -- I still think it’d be better if you were with him.” He jerked his head in the direction of the other Doctor.   
  
Rose opened her mouth to object and he stilled her with a look.   
  
“I know it’s not my decision. And I know you want to be here. But-- he can-- and I can’t--” He glanced over at his counterpart and Rose followed his eyes -- the Doctor in blue was evaluating the two of them calmly, his expression hovering somewhere between neutral and encouraging. The one in brown held his eye for a pause and then looked back at Rose. “Well. You know.”  
  
“Yeah,” Rose said. “I do.”   
  
“I suppose I didn’t see how I could--” He paused for thought, and Rose bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from interjecting. “How I could contribute anything.”   
  
“I dunno what you mean, contribute,” Rose said, unable to stop herself.   
  
He swallowed visibly, seeming to struggle to formulate his next thought, but then he took a step forward, energy bursting as he gestured to the other Doctor in a quick, broad gesture. “Rose, he’s -- me! We’re the same person, and we’re not, and from a Time Lord’s perspective that’s precisely the kind of thing that makes perfect sense, except right now, when it makes very little sense at all. He’s  _me_. Not the last me, not the next me. Just me. Only he’s better, for you. More human. Everything I’d want to be if I--” He sniffed, shook his head, his eyes wide and unfocused. “And how could I add to that? What could I  _possibly_ contribute?”  
  
Rose opened her mouth again, but he held up his hand.   
  
“Not to mention  _after_. Blink of an eye to me, and you’ll both--” He shook his head, the motion tight. “And then what? Carry on? Same old life? After--?”   
  
“Doctor--” She took a step closer, moved to place a hand on his outstretched forearm, but he pulled back.   
  
“Didn’t think I could. Thought the perfectly natural thing to do was to let you two get on with it. Happily ever after, children, a mortgage, all that.” He gave her a tight smile. “Even thought, if you wanted to be on the TARDIS so badly, I could let you drop me off, have a few decades of adventure, come find me again five minutes later when you were ready to settle down.”   
  
“I wouldn’t want--That’d be awful. I couldn’t be on the TARDIS without you.” She glanced at the other Doctor. “Both of you.”   
  
“Still,” he said as though he hadn’t heard. “I’d’ve had to deal with the possibility that you wouldn’t come back. There’s never any guarantee.”   
  
“You really thought that? That we’d just leave without you?”   
  
“Would it be so bad?”  
  
“Yes!” She watched his guilty expression, the way his eyes drifted to the floor, and a dark suspicion pulled at her. “Did you want to leave us, too? On Earth?”   
  
“Thought about it.” He sighed, rubbed a hand across his neck. “But I couldn’t make myself do it. Not after-- I remembered your face, on that beach, and-- Well, thought I wouldn’t have to, really. Figured sooner or later you’d come ‘round.”   
  
“Come ‘round?”   
  
“That you wouldn’t be able to resist each other anyway. Knew I wouldn’t if I were him.”   
  
“And, what, you expected us to leave?” Rose crossed her arms. “Take the TARDIS, or go live on Earth, or…”  
  
“No.” He stopped, shaking his head. “It wasn’t like I had some plan in particular. I merely thought there were possibilities, that you’d-- you’d pick one on your own, in time.”   
  
“Right,” Rose said, trying to stifle her building frustration. “And was this before or after I told you I wanted to be with both of you?”   
  
“Both, all right?” He rubbed at his face, then stuck his hand in his pocket. “For a while. And I’m sorry for that, I am. But I do realise now that’s not enough for you. Not the mortgage,” he shrugged, “and not him, either, I suppose.”   
  
She raised a hand to her mouth and chewed on the end of her thumbnail, irritation diffusing into guilt as she cast a look towards the other Doctor. Even though they’d discussed that she needed them both, it still felt wrong, that neither alone would ever be enough now. But he didn’t look the least bit bothered, sitting patiently, eyes on his counterpart.   
  
“So that’s it, really,” the Doctor in front of her said. “Thought you’d be better off, and that I wouldn’t have a place, and that -- even if I did -- it would be too painful. Afterwards.”  
  
“And now?” Rose asked, taking another step closer and craning her neck to look at him.   
  
“Oh, same,” he said, nodding, and tugged at his ear. “Mostly. Er. Some of it’s the same.”   
  
“What’s different?”   
  
“I didn’t realise -- I thought you’d be happy. Happier. With just him. Whether or not you wanted to admit it. And I see that you--you’re not.”   
  
“Oh,” she said, heart dropping. “But you still don’t want to be with me? It's just cause you think I'll be unhappy?”   
  
“No, Rose. You’re misunderstanding me.” He gave her a gentle smile. “I already did.”  
  
“You didn’t, though, did you?” she asked. “You wanted me, I know you did. But you didn’t want to  _be_  with me. Thought it was better if you weren’t, yeah?”   
  
He shifted, looking away, and she knew she was right.   
  
“See, but I don’t want to force you. Don’t want to say ‘be with me, or I go.’ That’s not what I want to do.” She looped a strand of hair around her ear, letting her eyes wander, ignoring the growing tightness in her throat. “I didn’t think it was fair, to start up with you and… not. At the same time. And I didn’t know what to do, cause how can I do that to you?” She glanced at the other Doctor. “Both of you. And I can’t leave, either. But we can find something, something that works for us, as well as it can, yeah?”   
  
“I wasn’t finished.”   
  
“What?”   
  
“That’s not how I feel anymore.”   
  
“It’s not?”  
  
“I do want to be with you.”   
  
“You do?”   
  
“Yes.”   
  
“Why?” The confusion sent a bark of laughter through her lips. She rubbed at her eyes before meeting his again.   
  
“I told you: I’ve been thinking about what happened yesterday ever since. And doubting it. You might even say agonising a smidge. Wondering if it was the right thing. Wondering why I was fighting so bloody hard not to be happy--” He ran his hand through his hair, sending it into disarray. “Even if it’s only for a while.”   
  
“Oh,” she said.   
  
“So, I do. Want to be with you. If -- if you want,” he said, and it was like a question. He took a step closer, watching her with a timid gaze full of burgeoning expectation. It was the same expression he’d worn, once, when he first asked her to come with him and later, again, when he’d changed and asked her to stay.  
  
Hope spread through her like warmth, radiating out from her stomach and chest into her limbs, her tingling fingertips. She wanted to grab him by the lapels, pull him in for a kiss in answer, but the other Doctor was still there, and even though they were all finally on the same page, these lines were untested. So she forced herself to put it into words instead.  
  
“Yeah. Yes,” she said. “But-- you’re sure?”  
  
“I am.”   
  
She utterly failed to bite back the huge smile that broke across her face, and the Doctor matched it with his own.  
  
“And, truthfully,” he said, “maybe it’s better this way.”   
  
“How do you mean?”   
  
“With two of us.” He looked at the other Doctor. “Don’t think I could have figured this all out on my own. Without seeing myself  _not_  acting like a prat.”   
  
The other Doctor snorted.   
  
“Probably need both of us to keep each other from being utterly thick," he continued. "Oh! Like how they keep mirrors behind bars, so customers see their own reflections when they get rowdy. The drinks change, the music, but nearly everywhere in time and space: mirrors behind the bar. Keeps customers behaving a bit better. Ever watch yourself yell at a bartender? I bet you haven’t. Because the mirror stops you. And because you probably wouldn’t yell at a bartender anyway, you’re much too nice. That, and you’re not a very heavy drinker.”  
  
“Getting a bit off track,” the other Doctor said, crossing his legs at the ankle on the edge of the console.   
  
“Right! See? Exactly.”   
  
“So what, then?” Rose asked, looking between the two men. “You’re both… you’re ready to give it a go?”   
  
The Doctor in blue smiled warmly, lifting his feet off the console and placing them on the floor, pressing his hands to his knees as he stood. He walked over to the pair, standing on Rose’s other side. She shifted her angle until her back was to the console, a Doctor on either side of her staring down.   
  
“Yeah. Think so.” He looked at the other Doctor. “You?”   
  
“Yeah,” said the Doctor in brown. “Rose?”   
  
She had to fight not to roll her eyes. “Yes. Obviously. You know I love you both.”   
  
The Doctor in blue made a happy sound in his throat. “Good. Very good.”   
  
“Though I can absolutely promise you that I’m going to muck it up,” said the Doctor in brown.   
  
“Oh, me too. No doubt. But definitely a bit less than him.”   
  
“Oi, you wish!”   
  
“Oh, I don’t have to wish. I know.”   
  
“But -- What do we  _do_?” Rose asked. “How does this work?”   
  
“Whatever and however we want,” said the Doctor in brown, enunciating each word.   
  
“No, but I mean… Are we -- two separate couples? Or are we-- I mean, how does any of it work? Don’t we need rules?”   
  
“Well,” said the Doctor in blue. “Guidelines, maybe. But there aren’t any rules, really.”  
  
“And if there were,” she said. “Hypothetically. What would they be?”   
  
“It’d be up to you,” the Doctor in brown said. “Think I feel safe in speaking for both of us when I say that we want you to be comfortable with however things are. Happy, even.”   
  
“So the question is: what do  _you_  want?” the one in blue asked.   
  
She was hit again with that tenuous, tempting image she imagined during her talk with Jack: two Doctors, a pair of lips on either side of her neck, a hand on either side of her waist. She noticed them watching her and her cheeks heated, sensation spreading down her neck and to her chest. The Doctor in blue’s mouth twitched, a smile tugging at its corner, and Rose grew warmer. It was silly, to be embarrassed after everything else they’d been through, but she felt caught out.   
  
“We can, you know,” the Doctor in blue said.   
  
“You--”  
  
“It can be one of the guidelines, hm?” He moved forward until he was standing over her and pressed a hand to her cheek. He leaned down and pressed his lips gently to hers, their soft, warm expanse sending tingling bolts of electricity down Rose’s spine, making her eyes slip shut. She remained still, waiting, though she wasn’t sure for what, and the Doctor broke the kiss after a few seconds of pressure.   
  
After a brief look between the men, the Doctor in brown stepped forward, inhaling almost as though he were bracing himself, and leaned down, pressing his lips to hers just as gently. She gasped, sharp, eyes closing again, and the other Doctor took her hand, thumb rubbing patterns on her palm. She wanted to open her mouth, deepen the kiss, but was worried the Doctor in blue would be hurt if she reacted to the other one differently, so she forced herself to be still, though her heart rate was rapidly accelerating. The Doctor in brown broke their kiss a few seconds later, and she opened her eyes to find both men standing close in front of her, watching her with identical looks of careful scrutiny laced with heat.   
  
“How’s that?” the one in brown asked. “Not so bad?”  
  
“Um,” Rose said.   
  
The Doctor in blue chuckled and stepped aside, pulling Rose by their linked hands. She stumbled into a slow walk behind him and the Doctor in brown trailed behind her. They moved from the console room into the corridor, Rose’s glazed eyes focusing on nothing in particular.   
  
“Where are we going?” she asked.   
  
“Well,” said the Doctor in blue. “We never had that picnic.”   
  
“And back there?” Rose asked. “What was that?”   
  
“Call it a preview,” said the other Doctor.   
  
“A coming attraction,” said the one in blue.   
  
“But only  _after_  refreshments in the lobby.  _Well_ , the galley, but you get my point.”   
  
“And if I say I’m not hungry?” Rose asked.   
  
“Do something nice for us,” the Doctor in brown said, “and we may just return the favor.”  
  
Rose laughed, turning the corner into the galley along with the Doctor ahead of her. Her head was swimming, the joy of having both men with her, safe, ready -- it was overwhelming. That, and maybe she was a little bit hungry, too. The Doctor in blue led her to the table and she sat down with a plop. Then, he moved over to the refrigerator with his counterpart and she’d only replayed the kisses once in slow motion in her mind when a sandwich appeared in front of her. She ate it without paying it much attention, watching the way each Doctor ate his, instead, and when she finished, she got up and put the plate in the sink, then turned and left the room. She heard them scrambling after her and let herself smirk, let herself imagine that she could absolutely, totally handle two Doctors and -- there was that head swimming feeling again.   
  
“Is your ensuite all right?” Rose asked, trying to maintain her bravado. “Think I need to wash.”  
  
Both Doctors responded with a choked sort of noise before the one in brown collected himself enough to nod. She found the room quickly, toeing off her trainers and walking into the bathroom. She didn’t check whether the Doctors were following her as she peeled her t-shirt over her head, unhooked her bra, and shimmied her jeans and knickers down her hips. The bathroom was wide and bright, like hers only larger, with a double vanity, a wide tub, and a large, separate shower stall.   
  
Without looking behind her, she stepped into the shower and turned on the water. It came down at a perfect temperature instantly, leaving Rose sighing, eyes closed, as she luxuriated under the water. It occurred to her a moment later that the Doctors hadn’t followed her in, and she was hit with a second of regret before realising the alternative -- that they were sitting in the room thinking about her in the shower -- was almost as good. She washed quickly, not bothering with shampoo, watching the rivulets of frothy water turn clear as the soap dissipated.   
  
When she stepped out, toweling off and tying the terry cloth around herself, the lighting was much more muted. She made her way into the room and found the two Doctors seated on the bed, eyes drawn to her, clad only in oxfords and trousers. She wrung her hair out, letting it drip onto her towel, and tilted her head at them.   
  
“You didn’t need to shower?”   
  
“Already showered,” said the one in brown.   
  
“Yeah. Me too.”  
  
“When?” she asked, nose scrunched.   
  
“Ehm. You were outside.”   
  
“For, like, five minutes before you joined me! Blimey, you’re fast.”   
  
“Ha!” said the other Doctor. “Bet you’ll be saying that again.”   
  
“Rude,” said the Doctor in blue. “I’ve no idea how this physiology reacts to physical stimuli. What’s your excuse going to be?”   
  
“But you’re both sure? Really?” Rose asked. “You want to do this?”   
  
“Come here,” said the Doctor in brown.   
  
She obliged, taking slow steps towards where he -- they -- sat on the bed, her pulse beating hard in her wrists and chest. She already felt heat spreading to her centre, at the way the men were looking at her, at the way she was clad in only a towel. When he could reach, the Doctor in brown pulled her by her hand so she stood in front of him, her body between his parted legs.   
  
“No holding back, with either of us, all right?”   
  
She nodded, throat dry.   
  
“I can’t promise no competition, but I can promise no jealousy. Not the real kind. Just do what feels right.”  
  
“Yeah.”   
  
With that, he brought his hand up to her waist and pulled her closer, hand moving into her hair as he brought their lips together. She leaned into him, closing her eyes, and really gave in, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling him tight against her. It was a relief, to finally kiss him -- to kiss either Doctor -- without reservation, and she found her legs were getting weak, her head was swimming even harder.   
  
Sensing this, the Doctor guided her with his hands to the spot next to him on the bed and she sat, still kissing him, practically oblivious to the change except for the fact she no longer felt like she might fall over. She slid her hand into his hair, gripping the soft strands, and opened her mouth under his. She lost herself in the kiss, nothing but the taste and smell of him -- cool, clean -- filling her mind.   
  
Then, there was a dip in the weight of the bed, and another pair of lips pressed to the side of her neck. His lips weren’t as cool as the Doctor in brown’s -- she couldn’t help but notice -- but she was so hot that they were a relief anyway, the most welcome of touches, sending heat and shivers through her all at once. He cupped her shoulder and began to move his mouth along her throat and Rose moaned into the other Doctor’s mouth.   
  
A small shot of embarrassment coursed through her, but the Doctor only leaned in closer, gripped her waist harder, and the other’s slow, wet descent down her neck and to the skin of her shoulder was already driving her mad. The Doctor behind her began trailing his fingers from shoulder to arm, brushing the side of her terry cloth-clad breast, and Rose gasped, biting the other Doctor's lip in accidental reaction. He growled and brought his hand up to palm the side of her other breast and Rose felt the touch down into her belly and lower.   
  
After a moment, the Doctors moved away from her simultaneously, the one in brown leaving a reassuring hand in her hair. His was mussed, eyes glassy, lips swollen. She could only imagine how she looked, the way her blood was buzzing through her, igniting every pulse point. She bit her lip, holding back a smile, enjoying the sight of him like this: thoroughly undone and thoroughly hers.   
  
“Lie back,” he said, voice low and scratchy.   
  
Her stomach jumped and she turned, making eye contact with the Doctor in blue, who had a slight pinkness to his cheeks and an encouraging smile on his face. It bolstered her and she shifted back onto the bed until her head hit the pillows. She'd never lain on his bed before. It was exceptionally soft and felt incredible on the bare skin of her arms and legs.   
  
The Doctor in blue lay next to her and tilted her head up to draw her in for a kiss. She sighed, relieved to give in to him at last, and he grinned against her mouth. She ran her tongue along his bottom lip and he jolted, then kissed her harder, sending excitement and smug satisfaction through her in waves. The other Doctor shifted on the bed and she broke the kiss, looking up at him as he moved towards her in a crouch. His tie flapped in front of him and he looked down at it, hesitating a second before grabbing it with one hand -- the other was supporting his weight -- and loosening it, pulling it off and tossing it somewhere unseen.   
  
Rose gulped. The Doctor looked at his counterpart -- in wordless communication? -- and then moved into place, hovering over her, one hand on either side of her torso. He looked down at the corner of her towel, tucked under itself, and the Doctor in blue leaned closer to her, hand poised over it.   
  
"All right?" he asked.   
  
She nodded.   
  
He tugged the cloth loose and bared her to their gaze. The cool air was stark on her skin and her nipples pebbled in response. The Doctor above her stared, bringing one hand to her breast and stroking down to her stomach with splayed fingertips, and she lifted her hips reflexively.  
  
"You're beautiful," he said.   
  
"Fucking gorgeous," added the other Doctor.   
  
The Doctor leaned forward and captured her nipple in his mouth, brushing with the flat of his tongue, and she moaned, turning her head to the other Doctor and kissing him. He found her other breast with his fingertips, teasing her with strokes from her collar bone down to the underside of her breast and back up, circling her nipple without giving it direct attention.   
  
The Doctor in brown released her with a pop of his mouth and moved down her body, trailing kisses from her rib cage to her stomach, down to her inner thighs, teasing. She cursed under her breath, burying her hands in the hair of the Doctor kissing her, then second-guessing it and grabbing his tie, loosening it, breaking the kiss, and tossing it away. She unbuttoned his shirt with one hand, watching him watch her, his pupils dilated and cheeks upgraded from pink to red. His chest was bare -- no undershirt -- and she brushed her hand down his sternum, toying with the hair there. He squeezed her breast in response and she brought her hand to his neck, pulling him towards her again, lifting her hips to seek more contact from the Doctor in brown.   
  
He slid his hand to where she was aching and parted her lips with his fingers, stroking her shallowly inside. She moaned, hand sliding down the Doctor in blue's torso until she reached the button of his trousers. The other Doctor leaned in and licked from her entrance to her clit and she sucked in a breath. He did it again, moaned, and she fumbled for the Doctor in blue's fly. He was straining against it and she unzipped him carefully, sticking her hand inside. His hand stalled, still on her breast, and she found her way into the hole of his boxers, wrapping her fingers around his hard length. He groaned and it sent a shock through her, so she stuck her tongue in his mouth. The Doctor between her legs ran his tongue over her clit and she let out her own cry, lifting her hips, sighing in relief as he pressed one, then two, fingers inside her.   
  
He slowly withdrew his fingers, then pressed them in again, and she heard the wet sound of it, which only got louder as he pressed his tongue to her clit. She broke away from her kiss, crying out his name, and then kissed the Doctor in blue again, pleasure building, pushing her hips up and rocking them in time with the other’s fingers. As the Doctor between her legs grew faster, Rose timed her hand’s movements in tandem, long strokes growing sloppy as she got closer, the heat and pleasure building with every swipe of the Doctor's tongue. The Doctor in blue pinched her nipples, hand trailing between them with purpose, but his kisses stuttered, his breath coming quicker as she stroked him, her hand growing increasingly slick from beads of moisture at his tip.   
  
"Rose--" he said, breaking away from her mouth. She was too close and found his neck, instead, sucking his damp, salty skin into her mouth and laving it, knowing she was going to leave a mark.   
  
The other Doctor angled his fingers so they pressed into her spot and sucked her clit into his mouth and she cursed, stars exploding behind her eyes as she fell over the precipice. He worked her through the orgasm, his fingers slowing down, his mouth stilling, and it seemed to last forever, the way she was suspended in pleasure. Despite herself, her strokes along the other Doctor's cock stopped and he moaned, thrusting forward, crying her name in clear desperation. He seized up next to her, his hips bucking, and then wetness fell across her fingertips.  
  
She ran her tongue across his neck once more before letting her head loll back, and the other Doctor rested his head on her thigh. The Doctor in blue was still breathing heavily, his hand on her chest lax until it crept across her torso to curl around her waist.   
  
Rose took a deep breath, holding it until it burned a little bit and then letting it out in a long burst. She took another, feeling floaty and soft and boneless, and released her grip on him. He twitched, hissing in her ear. Laughing, she removed her hand, wiping it on his trousers as she passed.   
  
"Hey," he said, grumbly and playful. "These trousers were clean."   
  
"Mm, and you ruined that, didn't you?" She looked up at him, grinning, her tongue between her teeth. He was still rosy-cheeked, eyes heavy lidded, and she couldn't help leaning in for one more soft kiss.   
  
The other Doctor lifted his head, chin pressing into her thigh. "Told you he was going to be fast."   
  
There was a scoff from next to her. "Like you could do any better."   
  
"Oh, I know I can," he said.  
  
"Maybe you should prove it," the other Doctor suggested.   
  
"Gladly." He shifted his weight until he hovered over Rose again. "That is, if you're ready."


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to crazygirlne/aimtoallonsy and scullywolf for the beta! Also, thank you again to fadewithfury and rointheta for your help, too.
> 
> This was always meant to be the origin story of how they got together, so it ends here. However! Stay tuned for oneshots in this verse but I'll have to ponder a while about potential for a full sequel. BTW, thank you so much to all of you who read and commented. It really kept my morale up. I truly appreciate it.

_"Maybe you should prove it," the other Doctor suggested.  
  
"Gladly." He shifted his weight until he hovered over Rose again. "That is, if you're ready."_  
  
\--  
  
The Doctor’s face was mischievous, that left eyebrow angled up in challenge as his weight pressed into her. But Rose was still buzzing, a warm burst of happiness spreading through her, and she couldn’t match the teasing energy. Instead, she felt a stillness come over her, watching him, and brought her hands up to unbutton the first few buttons of his oxford.   
  
“I am,” she said. “Are you?”   
  
He lowered his eyebrow, face going the slightest bit vulnerable, and swallowed. She played with the next button, releasing it and reaching into his shirt to stroke his skin as he regarded her with a quiet intensity.   
  
“Yeah,” he said, and leaned down to kiss her.   
  
She sucked in a breath, lifting her head to kiss him back, and pulled him closer by his shirt. They explored, taking their time in a way that they hadn’t before. The faint taste of herself on his lips sent tiny waves of pleasure through her, and she lost herself to a long moment of lips against lips. Finally, they parted with a soft noise and she broke into a smile, a little bit shy until he responded in kind.   
  
A beat passed, the moment dissipating, and suddenly she thought of the other Doctor, concerned that he’d be feeling left out. She turned and found the spot next to her was empty. Her heart jumped, fear that she’d messed up eclipsing their kiss, but a second later the Doctor reappeared in the doorway of the ensuite, clad only in a pair of fresh blue boxer briefs. When had he got up?   
  
Despite her worry, her eyes scanned down his bare torso and stomach, down to his legs and feet, and back up again. He noticed, giving her a wink. He looked positively flushed and happy as he made his way back to the bed and reclaimed his spot next to them, laid out on his side.   
  
“It’s fine, Rose,” he said. “Just had to clean up.”   
  
“Oh,” she said, her face heating.   
  
The Doctor above her rubbed his nose down her cheek and to her collarbone, dropping a kiss on her neck, and she sighed.   
  
The other Doctor was watching them with a tender look in his eyes. She smiled at him, and he leaned forward enough to press a kiss to her lips, then settled himself back on the sheets, practically radiating contentment.   
  
She remembered what he’d said to her the day she told them she wanted them both, with that same soft look in his eyes:  _“You have no idea what it means to me, that you care so much you want all of me.”_  
  
Bolstered, she met the Doctor’s eyes again and continued down the line of his shirt, releasing buttons as she went, exposing the pale, lightly-haired skin of his chest and stomach. He sucked in, breath sharp, as her knuckles grazed his abdomen, and she glanced up at him, smile turning into a smirk as she realised her effect on him.   
  
As she reached the bottom of his oxford, she pulled the shirt tails out of his trousers, pushing the shirt off of his shoulders. He twisted one way, then the other, shifting his weight to pull off the sleeves, and discarded it next to him. Rose grabbed it and tossed it across the room, watching it float down and land across the room.   
  
He graced her with an amused look and she narrowed her eyes at him, undoing the clasp of his trousers. He hissed as she made contact, and her eyes shot up to him. He was hard, the bulge in his already tight trousers making it difficult to navigate carefully, so he raised his hips, allowing her hands more room. She unclasped him carefully, pulling the zipper down with enough attention to be sure he didn’t catch on it, and then she pushed the trousers down his hips.   
  
He propped himself up a little higher, suddenly impatient, and she helped him by pushing his trousers and his boxer briefs farther down his legs until he kicked them off, fighting to disentangle his feet. She laughed and he glared at her half-heartedly, resting his body on hers in retaliation.   
  
Warmth surged through her, settling between her legs, renewing the throbbing that had so recently abated. It was the first time she’d felt his skin flush along hers, from torso to ankle, and she cried out, lifting her hips. Without any apparent effort on his part, he was lined up to her entrance, his hardness pressing into her firmly enough that she knew she could take him in if she tilted her hips right. He seemed to feel it too, his eyes glazing, then closing altogether.   
  
“Ehm, we, we--” he seemed to struggle to get the words out.  
  
“Doctor--?”  
  
“Protection?” He sniffed, buried his head in her neck, but his hips shifted and he slid along her entrance. She shuddered, resisted the impulse to take him inside. “For-- for him, if not me, and maybe, maybe both of us-- I’m not sure-- I’d need to--”   
  
“Hey,” she moved her hand into his hair, rubbing the nape of his neck. He shuddered, and it pushed him in a little farther. She couldn’t stop herself clenching around his tip and they shared a gasp. “I’m-- I take shots. Every three months. That work?”   
  
He nodded, head still buried in her neck. She pushed up with her shoulder, nudging him, and he looked at her. Bringing her hands to his face, she brushed her thumbs across his cheekbones, looking him in the eyes. She felt him twitch at her entrance, felt his torso shake with the effort of supporting his weight over her.   
  
“I love you,” she said, and wrapped a leg around him, pulling him down. He buried himself to the hilt in one long stroke and collapsed, letting out a long groan.  
  
“Rose,” he said, moving a hand to her cheek, kissing her soundly.   
  
She wrapped her arms around him, rubbing up and down his back, and let him remain still for a moment. He kissed her sweetly, breaking away every so often, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth, moving to her cheeks, her earlobe, down her jaw and back up it, before finding her mouth again.   
  
When she couldn’t stand it anymore, she rolled her hips down and back up, making him withdraw and push back in, and he let out an  _ah_  noise. He pulled out nearly all the way, until her lips were kissing his tip, and then pushed back in, the slow burn of it stretching her, sending tingles through from her centre up into her spine.   
  
She whispered his name, and he did it again, moving back to her neck to suck the skin into his mouth. She brought her knees up, giving herself more leeway with her hips, and moved with him, pushing back against every thrust as he began to speed up.   
  
Rose brought one hand down from the Doctor’s back and groped towards the side of the bed, hand sticking out, until warm fingers enclosed her own. She squeezed, and he squeezed back, bringing her hand up to his mouth and kissing the back of it.   
  
The Doctor’s thrusts grew shallower and Rose squeezed her eyes shut. His pubic bone hit her clit and Rose followed his movements, turning their motions into a rocking, grinding embrace.   
  
He whispered her name into her ear and she moaned, pleasure spreading from her centre, sparking down her legs into her feet and toes. She rubbed her thumb along the other Doctor’s palm harder as she got closer, pushed up the precipice with every thrust of the Doctor’s hips.   
  
He began to get sloppy, hips rocking, stopping, starting again, breaths coming in quick pants, and she knew he was close. She was getting closer, felt the flush on her skin all the way to her chest, but she suddenly wanted to see him undone, wanted to push him over the edge and watch him fall.   
  
She shifted the angle of her hips, getting him even deeper, and he gasped her name, his warm breath tickling down her ear and neck. Sensation raced through her as she sped up and his breath caught. He stilled for a second, breaking their rhythm, and then he brought one arm down to her hips, sliding his hand under her arse and grabbing her for leverage. Then, he deepened his strokes, increasing his pace until he stuttered, groaning, lifting his head and kissing her deeply, his tongue begging for entry. She kissed him back, sucking his tongue into her mouth, and he thrust hard one--two--three more times. Then, she felt the spread of warm wetness where they were joined.   
  
Breaking their kiss, he exhaled in heavy pants, ducking his head and resting it on her chest. Rose was still tingling, closer now than before she’d decided to make him come, but she only hugged him tighter, rubbing her free hand up and down his spine.   
  
He lifted his head again, meeting her eye, and kissed her softly, before rolling off of her and onto her other side. He took a deep breath and let it out, looking up at the ceiling. Her nipples pebbled as the cool air hit her skin and she trailed a hand from her chest down to her centre, touching the wet spot he’d left behind. She sat up, releasing the other Doctor’s hand with a squeeze, and finding her discarded towel to clean up.  
  
“I thought of another reason it’s good to have a spare me around,” the naked Doctor said, reaching down to the foot of his bed and grabbing his pants, then wiping himself off.   
  
“Oh, is that right?” asked the one in the boxer briefs. She looked at him and found he was tugging them off. They were bunched up around the bulge of his erection. “Have a feeling this won’t be the first time I finish what you’ve started.”   
  
“I just wanted to make sure your feelings weren’t hurt,” he said, turning to look at them. “Could’ve finished the job myself.”   
  
“Yeah, sure.”   
  
“Oi,” Rose said. “‘The job?’”   
  
“Er.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows, feigning an innocent look. “I mean, making love to you?”   
  
She snorted. “By the way, not sure there was actually a big difference in speed, Doctor.”   
  
“Well, ehm.” He sniffed, looking up at the ceiling again. “It’s been a while.”   
  
“Can only use that excuse once, you know,” the other Doctor said.   
  
He was naked too, now, cock bobbing with every breath as he lay on his back. He pulled at Rose’s hand again, seeming to want her to come to him, and she sat up, moving towards him and straddling him. He gave her a cheeky grin and raised an eyebrow, lining them up. Then, he pulled her hips down towards his firmly, sheathing himself in her, and she clenched her eyes shut as she gasped.   
  
Without thought, she began bouncing up and down, his hands guiding her, the tingling pleasure that had built with the other Doctor reigniting. He spurred her on with whispered words of encouragement, his fingertips digging into her hips, his thighs bouncing along to send her higher up and down. She lost herself in the building pleasure, jolting when he brushed one hand up her torso and found her breast, pinching her nipple, cupping, and rubbing.   
  
She glanced over and the other Doctor and found he was getting hard again, watching them with undisguised interest. The Doctor underneath her noticed, looking between them, and slowed down. The two men looked at each other for a brief second and the one watching turned down his lips in thought.   
  
“Rose,” said the Doctor under her, voice scratchy and low, “face him and get on your hands and knees.”   
  
She looked between the two, her centre throbbing around his cock, and she nodded, climbing off and hissing as he slipped out of her. She got on her hands and knees in front of the other Doctor as he took his place behind her. She looked longingly at his lengthening cock, scooting close enough to touch him and hoping that was what they had in mind.  
  
“Lean forward,” the Doctor behind her said, and Rose got closer, leaning one elbow on the mattress so she could lean with her mouth over his counterpart’s cock.   
  
“Ready?”   
  
She didn’t answer, instead taking the Doctor’s cock in her mouth just as the one behind her pressed slowly inside. All three of them groaned. She dragged her mouth up and down his length and the Doctor behind her began to thrust, gentle, clearly making sure it wouldn’t choke her.   
  
She let herself get used to it, sucking up and down his length, and then she pushed back against the other Doctor, who sped up in response. He brought one hand between Rose’s legs and rubbed tight circles on her clit, lengthening his thrusts and beginning to breathe hard. Now, pleasure built in her centre, making her heart race. She put all her focus on the Doctor’s cock, bobbing her head, using her hand, getting as deep as she could. The Doctor behind her moved even faster and she cried out around the Doctor’s cock, pausing, before sucking him in harder, laving the tip with her tongue, twisting her spit-soaked hand around his base in sloppy synchronicity with her mouth.   
  
He kept brushing back her hair, breaths getting faster, and soon he jerked underneath her, his hand in her hair freezing as he went rigid. His eyes fell shut and he moaned helplessly, and Rose swallowed him down, releasing him only after he opened his eyes again.   
  
She let herself have a moment of smug satisfaction, holding off the way the pleasure was building inside her, until the Doctor sped up, each plunge lighting up nerve endings everywhere in her body. He rubbed his thumb  _just_  right on her clit, the movements of his hips making it slightly unpredictable, and she clenched around him, falling over the edge with his name on her lips.   
  
She couldn’t hold up her weight anymore and lowered herself onto the bed, hips up, head pillowed on the sated Doctor’s thigh, helpless as the other drew out her orgasm, extending the explosion into longer shudders. As she clenched around him, he let out a strangled groan of his own and his rhythm faltered, body freezing up as he came. He worked her through the aftershocks, though, his hand rubbing more and more gently until she was oversensitized, pulling away.   
  
The Doctor behind her steadied her hips and pulled out, then guided her fully onto the bed, collapsing on her other side and letting out a very deep exhale. She gave herself a moment to catch her breath and then straightened herself out, lying back between the two men.   
  
“Not bad for a first time,” she said.   
  
“Oi,” said one Doctor.   
  
“‘For a  _first time_ ’?” asked the other.   
  
“Reckon we can improve our technique a bit, yeah?” Rose asked.   
  
There was a pause. “Well. There’s always room for improvement.”   
  
“We can go again, if you want,” said the other one.   
  
“Oh, god no,” Rose said, running her hand over her hot cheek with a laugh. “Too knackered.”   
  
The Doctor on her left let out a pleased sound.   
  
She looked at the man on her right side, then on her left, and bit back a grin. She honestly had no idea who was who right now. And it didn’t matter.   
  
“Is it all right if I sleep for a bit?” she asked.   
  
“Mm,” the man to her right said. “Come here.”   
  
He gathered up the duvet, pulling it over him, and Rose scooted under it. She shifted over to him and he guided her to turn around as he spooned up behind her. She felt the thrumming of heart beats on her back, but couldn’t tell how many. The other Doctor faced her, scooting up close and placing a hand on her waist.   
  
“Rest as long as you need,” he said. “We’ll be here.”   
  
Eyes growing heavy, Rose let herself drift off in the arms of the men she loved.   
  
\--  
  
Everything was warm. Her head was pillowed on something firm but supple, something that was drifting up and down like a ship on a calm day at sea. Atop her skin was silky fabric, heated to the perfect temperature by her body. She awakened slowly, yawning, letting her eyes drift shut again for a few moments. When she finally raised her head, she found a slumbering Doctor under her cheek. The room was lit with the gradually brightening light of the TARDIS, and Rose smiled as she watched the faint look of sleeping contentment across his face. She stroked across his sternum and he stirred, blinking, appearing dazed. He looked down at her and smiled, and her heart fluttered in response.   
  
“Hey,” he said.   
  
“Morning.”   
  
He hugged her tighter for a second and then released her, and she sat up, stretching her arms, unabashed about her nudity. She looked at her opposite side and found it empty, the duvet flipped back, and her stomach leapt up as she looked around the room and tried to catch a glimpse into the ensuite.   
  
“He’s--” His voice was very scratchy, laden with sleep and hours of disuse, and the Doctor cleared his throat. “He’s making breakfast. Don’t worry. Feels like he’s in a  _very_  good mood. Think he might even be whistling, do you hear it?”  
  
“Oh,” she said, and plopped back down, head hitting a particularly fluffy pillow.   
  
The Doctor leaned over her, pressing a soft kiss to her lips, and then sat up, twisting back and forth to stretch out his muscles.   
  
“I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely feeling peckish.”   
  
Rose stretched again, taking a deep breath and letting it out, but as she shifted her hips, she felt the wet spot underneath her, cool and uncomfortable.   
  
“Feel a bit grotty actually,” she said.   
  
He hummed. “Can’t say I’m sorry about that. But how about you go clean up? Then come to the galley and I’ll make sure there’s something  _really_  good for breakfast.”   
  
“Don’t trust his judgment?”   
  
“ _Well_ ,” he said. “Just think the human DNA’s given me a stronger sense of… appetite.”   
  
She propped herself on her elbow, looking at him. He smirked back at her.  
  
“Yeah?”   
  
He raised his eyebrows, shrugging.   
  
“Are you saying you wanna get me a little grottier before I go clean up?”   
  
He looked down at her chest, then up to her face again, and pounced, rolling her over and pinning her to the bed with his weight. She screeched out a giggle and then calmed, running her hand through his hair. His length was pressing against her thigh and she bit his shoulder.   
  
“Think it’s all fair game now, hm?” he asked, lining himself up easily and pushing inside.   
  
“Yeah,” she breathed. “Think it is.”   
  
\--  
  
A while later Rose stepped into her room, discarding the towel, which she’d wrapped around herself to keep warm, on the floor near her bed. She walked directly into the ensuite, taking a few minutes to rinse off, warm water cascading down her back and loosening newly tight muscles. After, she stepped back into her room, feeling rather like she was drifting, boneless and still a bit tired.   
  
She found her way to her chest of drawers, opening the top one and picking out a comfortable bra and knickers. She took her time getting dressed, enjoying the ache in her legs and hips. It was only when she’d donned a pair of stretchy pants and a t-shirt that she noticed her mobile laying on the bed and she grabbed it, activating the screen.   
  
One voicemail from her mum and one text message from Jack. She opened the text first, which was dated from several hours before.  
  
 _Been over a week now for you, if I had to guess. How’s that blueberry brownie? Bet you’ve had a taste by now._    
  
Shaking her head, she typed her response.   
  
 _I have no idea how you’re so good at guessing these things, but I’m not one to kiss and tell._    
  
She hit send and laughed, rereading their messages. The phone buzzed again a second later.   
  
 _Knew it would work out. Love you, Rose. Come back to Cardiff soon. Think you owe me a drink and a story or two. ;)_  
  
She wrote him back with an  _I love you too_  and switched to the call menu, not bothering to listen to the voicemail before dialing her mum.   
  
“Rose, is that you?” she asked, clicking on after several rings.   
  
“Hey mum.”   
  
“You sound better.” Her tone held a note of playful suspicion.   
  
“You can tell all that from ‘hey mum’?”  
  
“‘Course I can, I’m your mother. So he came to his senses, did he?”   
  
“Um.”   
  
Jackie laughed. “Thought he would. He’s batty over you. They both are, anyone can see that.”   
  
“I didn’t say-- I just saw you called, that’s all! How are you?”  
  
“Mhm. Nevermind how I am. Think you should go back to your Doctors and ring me in a few days.”   
  
Rose grinned, happiness spreading through her. “Love you, mum.”   
  
“Love you too, dear,” she said, warmth in her voice.   
  
Looking at her phone one last time, Rose tossed it onto her bed, leaving her room and heading towards the galley.   
  
\--  
  
She smelled the bacon and eggs cooking as soon as she stepped out of her room. She wasn’t sure if the TARDIS was funnelling the smell towards her or if the cooking was  _that_  fragrant, but her stomach was all-out growling by the time she stepped into the galley.   
  
As she walked in, both Doctors looked up at her, one from the table and one from next to the stove. They were dressed in oxfords and trousers again, ties and jackets abandoned in their bedroom, and they looked so tempting with rolled up sleeves and necks on display that, for a second, she forgot all about being hungry.   
  
Then, the one in brown, who was standing at the stove, portioned out some food onto a plate and walked over, placing it at the spot on the table closest to Rose, dropping a kiss on the top of her head as he walked by. Her stomach growled again and she grinned at him, sitting down next to the Doctor in blue and grabbing a nearby fork.   
  
He rejoined them a moment later, two identical plates of food in his hands, and placed one down in front of his counterpart, sitting on Rose’s other side.   
  
“Thought we could go to the harvest festival on Biltarene 5 today,” the Doctor in blue said, mouth half-full. “Got peaches the size of softballs, absolutely delicious, and they have these little pies for sale. Best ones in the galaxy, those pies, and they’re bite sized. Miniature pies, Rose! Brilliant.”  
  
“Biltarene 5 had a  _sixty year_  civil war during its prime,” the other Doctor said. “With the luck we’ve been having, that seems a bit risky.”   
  
“Well, not if we navigate there together. We’ll get the landing right, no problemo.”   
  
The Doctor in brown tilted his head, considering. “Good point.”   
  
“‘Sides,” Rose said, grinning at them. “Is it possible that we’re the ones who  _ended_  their civil war?”   
  
“Suppose we’ll see,” the Doctor in brown said. “Might want to be sure to bring our sonics this time though, hm?”   
  
“Oh, absolutely. Particularly since my  _newer_  version has a lot more settings than yours.”   
  
“Not sure what good that is if you can’t be bothered to bring it with you.”  
  
“Ahh, well,” he said. “You’ll just have to rescue me, that’s all. Isn’t that right, Rose?”   
  
Rose bit her lip, looking between the two men, smile tugging at the side of her mouth. “We’ll rescue each other. How about that?” 


End file.
